ERA
by Without permission
Summary: Trapped in an rpg virtual reality game until all 100 stages are beaten, Finn struggles through fighting bosses and convincing the solo player Kurt in joining his team. AU slash
1. Penny the Beta Tester

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

Summary: millions of people become trapped in a virtual reality game. In order to leave, they must beat all one hundred levels or die trying. Unwilling to join a team, Kurt faces the game head on as a solo player and ends up crossing paths several times with another player, Finn, who has his own team and is determined to have him join. SLASH F/K

Notes: if anyone's familiar, this is basically based off of the anime Sword Art Online. I only saw the first three episodes, so this fic won't follow that story very closely, just the **first two episodes**; I'm simply using the idea of being trapped in a game with your life on the line :) Also, this takes place just after Schue blackmailed Finn into joining glee.

…

Chapter One

Penny The Beta Tester

…

Finn was a gamer, but he didn't consider himself so hardcore that he'd devote himself to sleepless nights in the darkness of his room trying to beat imaginary monsters and gaining experience points while also teaming up with strangers all over the world. His kind of games were ones that involved lots of explosions, guns, and things to destroy. That and the occasional Mario were the type of games he was into. World of Warcraft and junk like that was a little too far off his attention span.

He'd been friends with Puck long enough to know that he wasn't into that either. So it was a surprise to Finn when his best friend approached him one day over the excitement of saving up just enough money to get the new virtual reality game called ERA. It was going to come out in a few days, but even Finn wouldn't be so worked up over a game. The last time he'd seen Puck this excited was when the wii had first come out.

Finn had seen the commercials for ERA, but he didn't get what all the hype was. It was a virtual reality game set to different eras in history where most of the action involved interacting with other players and gaining experience through menial tasks. It sounded long and boring, and really not the type of game that would hold his interest for long.

Puck on the other hand, saw a different side to it. ERA was a virtual reality game in its own genre. Many scientists, neurobiologists, and all those people with titles too fancy for Finn to remember, were involved in the creation of the game. It was not only a screen in which ones body moves around in. It targeted certain areas in the brain that tricked the body in believing it truly was in the game. Tastes, smells, and other sensations were very real. Including pain and exhilaration when fighting bosses. That part did sound cool, but the whole concept of the game was still lame.

In the end, though, Finn found himself waiting in a ridiculous line with his friends, three hundred bucks in his pocket, and staring at the front doors of the Game Stop as if willing them to open. Standing amongst the crowd of chattering teens and adults, Finn felt like the oddball for not sharing their excitement.

The line had gotten long enough to block out a street after wrapping around the block itself, Finn was sure fights would break out once the store had sold out, but to his surprise and his friends relief, two trucks arrived with the Game Stop logo. The only games inside were ERA. They were super prepared this time.

It was a long wait, but after five hours of standing, Finn finally got a copy of the game. And it was nowhere near what he expected. It wasn't just a disk and flimsy head gear; it was an entire fucking package big enough to rival a game console.

Driving out of traffic and finding himself in Puck's house, Finn couldn't help but think that he could have been at the school auditorium embarrassing himself in front of a bunch of kids with his singing. He still hadn't figured out how that marijuana came into his possession. He felt kind of bad for skipping on Schue's glee club meeting. Technically, though, it wasn't even his fault, Puck made him promise, and he wasn't one to leave him hanging.

…Even if it meant waiting in line for five hours surrounded by a bunch of rpg nerds.

"So how does this work?" Mike spoke up as they gathered in Puck's chaotic room and unpacked the game. Finn found booklet's upon booklets of manuals before reaching the headgear. It was black and shiny with blue lining. It kind of reminded him of a motorcycle helmet except it was super light and designed in such a way that it would be comfortable to wear lying down without getting any neck aches. The interior was cushioned and dotted with red dots in no particular pattern. At the front Finn expected some kind of screen, but it was just a clear strip of plastic thick enough to cover the top of his face. There were no attachments to the helmet, but there were stickers of more red dots in the box.

According to the manual, these stickers needed to be put all over his body. A ridiculous task and waste of money since he'd probably have to go buy more stickers once he was done with these. What a rip off. He wanted to say so to his friends, but they were already placing the stickers on themselves without question. Letting out a huff of annoyance, Finn followed suit.

He jolted in surprise when he placed the first sticker. It flashed for a brief second after making contact with his jeans, then melted into the fabric leaving only a red dot that could be mistaken for a marker stain. How the hell was he going to get it off when he was done with the game?

He looked back at the manual.

_'Marker's will only be needed once in order to record your data of physical appearance. Once the game begins they will activate and disintegrate once all data is collected.'_

How convenient… Finn looked at the stickers skeptically. The creators really advanced the technology for this game, pity they didn't use it on something useful like flying cars…

The tall teen pouted, he was really sour over losing three hundred dollars. That money had been saved up for a car. He was only a few hundred bucks away from his goal, too. He glanced over to Puck and cursed his weakness to peer pressure.

Once the stickers were all used up, the next thing to do was to activate the game by connecting the helmet to the internet. That was simply done by turning the helmet on from the left side and letting it get a signal. The blue lining lit up brightly and dimmed down to a more comfortable brightness. It hummed softly to life, the line of dots at the front blinking green sporadically until they settled down to a steady glow, confirming that the internet connection was strong and stable. The next step was to install the game which was no bigger than a DS game chip. Locating the slot at the side of the helmet by the on/off switch, Finn slipped it in and put the helmet on.

For a few seconds he saw nothing but a distorted visual of Puck's room through the plastic screen. He was about to say his helmet was broken when it suddenly beeped and a soft female voice by his ear said, _"Welcome to ERA."_

The strip of plastic flashed with several dots of color, and the next second Puck's room vanished and Finn found himself floating in blue skies. Literally floating, he couldn't feel the hardwood floor of Puck's room underneath him, and warm gusts of wind felt real against his skin. He yelped in fright at the jarring sensations and finding himself thousands of miles up in the sky. For a moment he thought he was falling, but nothing changed in the peacefulness of the atmosphere, and after getting his bearings together and trying really hard not to freak out, Finn was able to see that there was a screen in front of him showing him a sketch of a male body.

'Choose Your Attire', the title said.

Once his hands were still enough to move, Finn hesitantly looked over the options he was given. There were a lot of locked outfits, the only ones offered to him simple and kind of peasant-ish because he was just starting the game. There was even an option to change his gender, though he quickly ignored that.

Fiddling over a few outfits, hair styles and age, Finn finally settled onto one look after twenty long minutes of mulling over his crappy options. He later noted that there were no options on what difficulty he wanted to play and figured that this was the type of game where it didn't matter. He pressed the Done button and the screen vanish with a 'thank you'.

He jolted again in surprise when his body glowed briefly. He was now a bit taller than before, much leaner, and in simple black and brown attire that he decided didn't make him look too poor. A modest sword hung heavily at his hip.

Once his appearance changed, several other flashes appeared around him, revealing people in clothes similar to his. He only got to see them shortly before a gust of wind blew at him and he was suddenly standing in a hilltop in the middle of spring.

In the whole time since he decided to buy the game to shut Puck up, he finally got why people were going crazy over it.

Everything just felt so real, from the warm spring breezes, to the smell of grass and flowers. The grass crunched under his feet as he wandered around in a daze, gawking at everything his eyes reached. It felt like he was literally pulled into another world. From where he stood he could see a town about a mile away. The stillness in the air and the style of the buildings gave him the impression that he was in the middle ages or at least in some time where electricity hadn't been invented yet. It was so quiet and peaceful.

And unbelievably beautiful.

Suddenly those three hundred dollars felt like a sale than a robbery.

"Takes your breath away the first time, doesn't it?"

Finn whipped around both in embarrassment and surprise. A petite girl smiled up at him, and he blushed. She was very pretty in a small town kind of way. Her chestnut hair glinted a bronze gold in the sun, lining her pale face angelically, and her eyes were so mystifying, Finn didn't know if they were blue, green, or something else altogether. She was dressed in simple attire like his, but somehow she made it seem higher class, arranging the shirt and pants in a casual way that he'd only seen in magazines his mother liked to read. The twinkle in her eyes gave off the impression that she was as spritely as her slim physique, and yet not in a crazy way like Santana or Brittany from the Cheerio's.

"Hello," Finn shook his head and tried to keep from staring. 'I have a girlfriend,' he thought stubbornly to himself.

"Hi," she chirped, cheeks flushing pink. "I'm...Penny."

"Finn," he greeted back with a sheepish smile. "And…" he looked around and let out a laugh of ill-hidden giddiness, "yeah, I didn't expect it to be like this!"

Penny looked over the grassy fields and smiled. "It's amazing how far we've come with technology isn't it?" Finn nodded. She had a kind of breathy voice that was neither forced in a sexy way, or out of breath, and it was kind of refreshing to Finn who was used to the sharp voices of his girlfriend and the cheerio's, this girl spoke almost as if she were singing. "Kind of wish they'd be able to use it on something more useful, though…"

"Yeah," he agreed, looking up at the sky where he'd fallen from. There were more lights flashing, and from afar he could see people landing on the ground as simply at he had. "This is actually the first time I've ever played a game like this. Usually I'd just stick to Fallout or Halo."

"This is actually the only game I ever played," Penny pitched in sheepishly, "video games were never my thing."

Played? Finn raised his eyebrows. The game just came out today. "You've played this game before? How?"

"I was a beta tester," she shrugged, a gust of wind blowing her hair softly in the air. She pulled it back behind her ear, and Finn was somehow hypnotized by the movement, "they let me keep the game for free to play again once it officially came out. I didn't even touch it until today."

"Really," Penny seemed so small and fragile; he couldn't imagine her going up against bosses. "how far did you get?"

"Stage ninety-nine," she didn't seem to think anything of it, and Finn wondered if she was lying just to impress him, "I died a bunch of times, but I managed to get there before the creators were ready to release the game."

"Doesn't this game have a hundred stages?" he wasn't sure what kind of time limit ERA had for beta testers, but surely not so much that players could reach all the way to ninety nine in such a short amount of time. Even so, the game should have only had a few stages open for them to play in, or he assumed it was like that, beta testing was always a foggy area for him. Penny nodded, though, and seemed to get his confusion.

"I didn't find any problems either, just that it was easy enough to finish almost all the stages," she looked over the hill by the town towards the small pack of wolves lazing about. Finn hadn't even noticed them until now, the disappointment was starting to sink in again that he paid three hundred bucks for an easy game. "But it's still fun..if you'd like I can give you a few tips on leveling up."

She seemed so hopeful that Finn didn't want to doubt her, so he just nodded and followed her down the hill to the wolves. When the animals spotted them, they tensed up and started growling. He hesitated behind her. He knew he wouldn't die in real life if he was killed by something in the game, but that didn't stop him from being nervous of wolves attacking him. His five senses were just as strong here as in reality; he didn't favor the idea of being torn apart and feeling it.

"Okay so, on this stage we mainly use weapons like swords and ax's," Penny explained as she pulled out an impressive sword much more refined than his own, "as we level up here, the weapon also becomes stronger. When you advance to other levels in the game, you can still use these weapons, but their strength depends on how much you've used it to strengthen it, and whether or not they're useful against an enemy," Finn watched curiously, she crouched in front of the closest wolf with the sword held out to the side with both hands. "The difference in reality and ERA when it comes to weapons is you don't really depend on your own strength to use the weapon, you let the weapon do the job for you. It makes it easier on people who know nothing about fighting."

With this she charged forward and barely jerked the handle of her sword, it sliced effortlessly through the wolf, instantly destroying its data. Penny walked back to the wide eyed Finn, her sword much slimmer now and with a blackened blade. He'd just barely seen it transform after the instant kill, but he got the gist of it. Penny stepped aside to let him try. Biting back fears of getting attacked, he pulled out his own sword and ran to the closest wolf.

The wolf pounced him instead, but was killed by Penny before it could jam its jaws into Finn's neck.

Smiling down at him not in a condescending way, Penny held out her hand and he took it, flustered that a girl just saw him make an ass out of himself. She didn't make fun of him though and they continued fighting the wolves until Finn's sword was no longer flimsy, but strong and sturdy like Penny's. He also learned how to use his menu and customize the small prizes some of the wolves had when he killed them. If he was ever in a pinch, his body would automatically heal a certain portion of his health, and he now possessed a protection bracelet that would ease up the blows he'd get from an enemy. Once the wolves were all gone and he got up to level seven, he realized that he'd been at it all day and probably missed his dinner.

His mother was going to be pissed that he hadn't gone home yet.

"Shit," he looked over the setting sun in horror. "I gotta go home for dinner." Penny blinked at him in surprise, "I was supposed to go home hours ago, my mom's gonna kill me!" Waving his hand in front of him, his menu popped up, and he went for the log out button. Sheepishly turning to Penny he grinned lopsidedly, "Thanks for teaching me…you know, all this stuff."

Penny smiled brilliantly and nodded, "I just helped with the basics, you should probably take a second look at the manual before attempting to fight a boss." Finn flushed, but laughed and went back to the menu.

The log out button wasn't there.

Frowning, he looked at the other folders, but there didn't seem to be any sign of it anywhere. "Uh…" Penny watched him curiously, "where's the log out button?"

Penny looked at his menu, and frowned as well when she couldn't spot it. She pulled up her own menu and found that she didn't have one either. "It should be there," she muttered, flicking through folders in confusion. "There must be a glitch, too many people logging in maybe?"

"What if I just took the helmet off?" Finn asked thoughtfully.

Penny shook her head, "the game incapacitates your body leaving only your brain active to fully experience the game. That's why the helmet is so comfortable; I've fallen asleep in it a few times." Finn was barely listening, he was starting to panic. This meant the he was stuck in the game until…when?

The question was answered when a window popped up in his menu announcing that he was being automatically transported. "What's going – " the fields vanished and he found himself standing in a town square by a grand fountain. Judging by the looks of the people around him, he wasn't the only one completely lost.

"Is this a mini game challenge?"

"I can't log out, can you?"

"I'm gonna miss my show!"

A small gust beside him and a flash of brown hair told him Penny had just arrived. More people were coming in small flashes around them. Finn tried not to worry over what was happening, but even Penny was starting to look a little tense and just as confused as everyone else. In the few hours he hung out with her he'd grown accustomed to her being calm and collected, if she was like this now, then he probably had good reason to start worrying.

"Hey, this is normal right?" he asked under his breath. Penny shook her head, brows knitted in thought.

"It looks like no one else can log out either," she said, observing a group from afar arguing amongst themselves while looking over their menu's. "This never happened in the beta test."

Finn wanted to ask more, but the sunset suddenly shifted into night and the only light in the town came from a large screen that appeared on the starry sky. A man in a hooded cloak came into focus, his face hidden in shadow.

"Welcome players, to the game of ERA," he announced to the silent crowd, "I am Paradise, head creator of ERA." Finn made a face, who would call themselves 'Paradise'? "By now you will have noticed that the log out button has been removed from your menus." At this the crowd murmured uneasily amongst themselves, "this is not a glitch in the system, rather it is a challenge I have laid out for all of you. For years I have worked to develop a game in which one could literally feel they are a part of without so much use of the imagination. You have spent your money on games to which to escape for a few hours, but this will not be a game that will be tossed aside so easily. My challenge to you is to finish the game with your lives on the line."

"What?" several people echoed incredulously.

"The concept is simple," Paradise continued, "when you battle bosses – even the menial enemies provided for experience – and you die in battle, you die in reality." The uneasy din of the crowd hushed in silent shock. "Take it or leave it, the reality is there," Paradise said simply, "removing the headgear will not safely get you out of the game either." Several screens popped up showing news articles and reports of people crying, several titles announcing death tolls over a new game that just came out. "If the headgear is removed, the internal battery will give out an electric shock into the brain that'll instantly kill the player, already over two hundred people have died in this manner by loved ones removing the headgear despite the warnings clearly placed on them. Fortunately, deaths have decreased now that it's understood what would happen should the headgear be removed."

Finn felt himself turn to ice at the thought of Pucks mother or sister coming in and yelling at them to stop playing, and then removing their headgear in irritation. He looked around feverishly in the hopes to find his friends, but then remembered that they might not even look like themselves since the introduction of the game let them change their appearances.

"Once all stages have been cleared up to and including the hundredth stage, the log out button will return for you to safely get back to reality," under the little light that reached a part of his face, Finn could see Paradise smirk. "This will be a fight of the bully against the bullied, and for that I think it's more fitting for you to face each other as you truly are."

Several people gasped and cried in surprise as their appearances changed from the make up in the introduction, to how they really looked. Their clothes didn't change much, but those who were disguised as other genders had their clothes switched to ones more fitting and less embarrassing.

"Dude what the fuck you're a guy!?" someone shouted. Other exclamations were followed by this, but they quickly died down with the growing anxiety that this wasn't bluff from Paradise. Once again they looked up at the giant screen, expecting more to be said. Out of curiosity, Finn looked to Penny, but just at that moment she threw the hood from her black cloak over her head, hiding her face from view. Despite that, the cloak – which she tightened around herself – couldn't hide that she was almost as tall as him, and a bit more broad shouldered. Not wanting to poke and prod, and feeling a little disappointed that Penny wasn't actually so cute and petite as he thought, Finn looked back up at the screen.

"I wish all of you the best of luck, and will be waiting for you at the end of the line," was all Paradise had left to say. The screen vanished, and after a few seconds of silence, the town square went into chaos.

People shoved and kicked at each other, trying to run out of the village in their desperate need to escape. Amongst all the jostling, Finn lost sight of Penny, but just as he noticed her missing, the floor broke away and everyone fell through to a dark abyss, their screams drowning in his ears.

…

The hospitals were quickly becoming overcrowded across the country. In a fairly small town like Lima, it had filled up long ago. When Carole Hudson had gotten the anxious phone call from Puck's mother, she rushed out of work and found herself at the edge of town in one of the lesser known hospitals, with a horde of tearful parents crowding around a nerve wracked receptionist who was babbling a mile a minute.

"Everyone remain calm – room 312 – yes? Okay, she's in 223 – 401." It took a while before the harassed woman finally turned to Carole expectantly. "Name?"

"Finn Hudson," she choked out, blinking back tears that were welling up.

She only glanced briefly at the screen before saying, "223," handed her a slip, then turned to the next helpless parent. Not needing any more information, Carole pushed through the tight crowd to the hallway guarded stiffly by security. They looked down at her expectantly and she held up the paper the receptionist handed her. Silently they let her pass and she rushed to the elevator where there were still more people all just as distraught as her. With this many people in the hospital, the slip the receptionist gave her meant nothing.

Unfortunately, the elevator was taking too long, especially since it couldn't occupy such a large amount of people in one go. Patience broken, the single mother left the group and looked for the stairs instead. She only needed to go up one floor anyway.

As she passed a few rooms she could hear people wailing and yelling, doctors telling them to calm down in futile. Her jaw clenched in pain, tears slipping of their own accord at the thought of being in their place. Only a few hours ago she had been on the phone with her son. He was on his way to his friend's house to play the new game everyone was talking about. Normally she wouldn't let him throw his money around so easily for some fancy new game, but he'd been working tirelessly to save up his money that she allowed him to splurge this once.

She regretted it deeply now.

She barely remembered climbing up the stairs and going through another busy hallway. Just the flash of the number 223 at the side of the door and the large room behind it. She walked down the line of beds and saw a doctor grimly throw a blanket over the head of a child, the headgear by his side and his parents sobbing into each other's arms. A small noise got lost in her throat and it became hard to breathe the more desperately she searched the beds for her son.

There were other kids she recognized, some even adults of whom she passed by on her way to work. None seemed to have any other ailment aside from wearing the same headgear of the new game. Then finally, she found him.

He was at the end of the room with an empty bed beside him that a nurse was busily rearranging. A doctor was looking over the heart monitor, taking notes on his clipboard. Too lost for words, Carole was at Finn's side in an instant, careful not to touch the headgear that covered most of his face, already aware of what happened if removed. The doctor looked at her in surprise, clearly not seeing her until now.

"Mrs. Hudson, I presume?" he said kindly. Carole nodded, sniffling and wiping her face.

"Yes, that's me," she managed to say without bursting into tears again. "How is he? I came over as soon as I heard."

"As far as we can tell, he's stable," the young man said, looking over his notes, "so long as the headgear isn't removed and he plays it safe in the game. I'm Dr. Adams by the way."

"What's going on?" she demanded shakily, "why would a game…do this?"

The doctor shook his head. "According to the co-creators, this was never meant to happen and from what we could gather, the original creator who calls himself Paradise has locked them in the game until it's beaten. They're holding a press conference to explain what's going on and will be traveling to all hospitals to try and hack into the system to get them out."

"And when will they get here?"

Dr. Adams hesitated, "a week."

"A _week_?" Carole practically screeched. She clutched onto her son's limp hand.

"Mrs. Hudson I know this is hard for you, my daughter is trapped in the game as well," Dr. Adams sympathized, the pain she was going through reflecting in his eyes. "But you must be prepared of what could happen in the next few days. The mayor's paying visits to each hospital periodically to explain what's been happening, if you'd like, you can go to the cafeteria in two hours to get the full story, but until then do not under any circumstances remove the headgear."

"Yes I know what'll happen if I do," Carole swallowed thickly. "And the people responsible, they're going to trial for this right?"

"If they were, we wouldn't be getting the help they're trying to give," the man said begrudgingly, "the team that made the game claim to have known nothing about this," he pressed a few buttons on the arm rest of the bed and the dormant television in front of them that Carole hadn't noticed until now, turned to life, focusing on a news report from NBC. They were showing video clips of several hospitals, and people in the same headgear Finn was wearing. "They know about as much as we do," Dr. Adams said grimly. A clip flashed to a group of people in sunglasses and hoodies, they were being clutched by security guards as they guided them into a hospital. The people around them were shouting and jeering, throwing things at them like eggs and bottles. "When they come here I hope you can remember that they're here to help, not make things worse."

"Those are the creators?" Carole asked softly.

"Some of them," Dr. Adams nodded, "They've been splitting up to get to as many hospitals as possible, but they still haven't been able to get anyone out of the game. The most they can do is pull up video recordings of each player."

"Video recordings?"

"I don't get it either," he shook his head, "I assume it's the progress of the player, it's not much, but it's putting people at ease a little," he wanted to say more, but was interrupted by the arrival of another patient. The nurses were rolling her in and switching her into the empty bed by Finn. Carole looked up in time to immediately recognize the patient, despite her face being half hidden by the headgear.

"Quinn," she murmured under her breath. At Dr. Adams's inquisitive look, she elaborated, "she's my son's girlfriend."

"Oh," was all he could say. The girl's parents rushed in and he steeled himself for another hard explanation.

…

The fall had been a short and scary one, but as soon as he found it in him to scream in horror, Finn found himself in a well lit area of town, alone with other players still freaking out over their situation. Penny was nowhere in sight, and out of a sliver of hope he pulled up his menu to look for the log out button. Just as before, it wasn't there, and wouldn't be there until he beat the game.

All 100 stages of it.

He barely managed to level up from the pack of wolves he fought, how was he going to face one hundred bosses?

...He had to keep leveling up of course.

He looked at the other players running around and saw they had the same idea. He wasn't sure how fast wolves would regenerate, but he had to at least get a few before they were wiped clean from the other players. Biting his lip, he slipped away from the glowing streets of the town and pulled up a map from his menu.

The stage was called Harvest Land, and it was based off of a peaceful period in the middle ages that wasn't marred by war, disease or tyranny. It was a perfect stage for beginners and an easy place to level up. There were four towns, the one he was in the smallest of them all. He was sure that if he remained here he wouldn't get much stronger with the crowd still here, he needed to get to the next town to get as much kills as possible. If Penny hadn't lied about reaching the ninety-ninth stage, then he was sure she was in the next town as well.

Glancing back at the streets, with it's over stuffed crowd of players, Finn chose a cloak from his menu and threw the hood over his head, running down a beaten path that would lead him to the next town called Opis.

…

After the first few days of deaths and patients coming in, things had turned to a sort of standstill. There was no escaping that with each passing day, someone was going to die in the game. A few rare cases involved heart attacks and brain aneurisms. When it became clear that no one was getting out of the game any time soon, orders were taken out to put players in tubes so they wouldn't starve to death. They were basically being treated like they were in vegetable states. It wasn't an easy thing for Carole to watch nurses stuff tubes in her son because he couldn't feed himself.

There was also the inevitability of returning to work, but even there she couldn't escape her worry for Finn. Practically everyone at her job had someone stuck in the game; the feeling of despair in the hospital was just as strong at work. She couldn't remember the last time she cooked a meal for herself; she'd always just go back to the hospital straight after work.

Still, Finn's condition never changed, the only bright side being that he was still alive.

Since the first day he'd been there, other patients had been going in and out. Quinn was still there thankfully, but now she was joined by her friends Carole had remember seeing once or twice. Frankly she didn't know these girls were into playing video games and could only assume they did it out of curiosity like some of the adults who were too 'adult' to play games.

Not that it mattered now; they were stuck just like everyone else.

She was just getting settled in when the door opened and Dr. Adams walked in with a young fragile man and two security guards. He was holding a fancy looking laptop in his thin arms, his face pale with a shiny purple bruise on his left cheek. He looked like he hadn't eaten or slept in days, which tipped Carole off immediately that this was the co-creator who was supposed to come to the hospital.

The other people got the same vibe and fell silent as he walked down the narrowing path to the back of the room. The closer he got, the better Carole was able to see that he was a very miserable man.

"Everyone," Dr. Adams called out, demanding everyone's attention, "this is Ryan Peterson, he was a part of the team that created ERA and is here to help us, not make things worse."

"Get my daughter out of your stupid game," Mrs. Fabray's heated voice vibrated throughout the room. The man flinched and hunched his shoulders in fear. The other parents didn't say anything, but the hard glares in their faces were enough to say they felt the same.

"I – I can't," Ryan mumbled meekly, "Paradise changed the codes, none of the others could hack in – but we're still trying!" he added, when one of the parents approached him with the intention of hitting him. He quaked behind a guard who held the angry man back firmly. "We're trying!" Ryan repeated, holding his laptop to his chest, "wh-what I can do right now is put up video footage of their progress so you can at least know how they're doing."

"So, we'll be watching over them?" Carole asked. Ryan jolted at her voice, but nodded hurriedly, his thick glasses almost flying off.

"It's not much, but it's all I can do for now," he opened his laptop and turned it on. After a moment of hesitance, he sat on the empty chair next to her. Carole watched his fingers fly over the keys, windows and html codes blurring the screen. It looked he was connecting to several things at once, and whatever it was seemed to work because the television turned on by itself and Finn's headgear glowed for a second before mellowing out.

A few more tapping from Ryan and the news on the television switched to what looked like a movie set in the middle ages. What Carole was looking at was a small outdoor stadium that was barely occupied with a bunch of people listening attentively to a young knight holding up a book. After focusing a little, Carole spotted Finn sitting at the top of the seats, a bit away from the cluster of warriors. He was dressed in clothes she'd never seen him in before, but at a whole he seemed fine.

"What are they doing?" she asked breathlessly, tears springing to her eyes, "can you get audio?"

"No, unfortunately," Ryan said reluctantly, "I was only able to get video, if I hacked any further, Paradise would notice and lock me out again."

"Where is Paradise?" someone demanded, "has anyone found him?"

"I – I don't know where he is," Ryan stammered. Rather than try and beat the answer out of him, the parents just seemed disappointed and tired. "But I can show you how your kids are doing!" He stood up anxiously, almost dropping his precious laptop. Now that no one seemed to want to hurt him, he was eager to help out.

Carole grabbed his arm, startling the poor man. "Thank you," she said, looking up at the television.

Clearly not used to gratitude, Ryan blinked furiously, and nodded meekly before going off to the next bed.

…

There was rumor going around that someone found the boss room. Announcements were mailed to all players that there was to be a meeting in the Opis Stadium on how to take on the boss. Figuring that many people would go, and that he was leveled up enough, Finn went to the location and was dismayed to find only about fifteen people gathered.

The name of the boss was Lug, an ogre with little smarts and deadly strength. The knight explaining all this was called James, and he got his information from the handbook all players had on the bosses and denizens of the game. Finn was only half paying attention until James announced that they should split into groups and strategize on a plan of attack. Startled, Finn looked around for anyone willing to team up with him, but already people were grouped up and talking amongst themselves.

The only other person not in a team was a stranger a few seats away huddled up in a familiar black cloak. Finn was sure that it was Penny and quickly scoot over and sat next to her.

"I was wondering where you went," he said quietly, hoping not to startle her. Penny tensed up anyway, "wanna team up?"

"Are you sure about that?" she mumbled. Her voice was deeper than Finn last remembered, but still very feminine. Finn frowned, not seeing why she was being so shy now.

"Yeah, why not? You're a good fighter," he grinned, "and shouldn't we stick together anyway? We're stronger in groups than on our own." Penny seemed to consider this, so Finn pulled up his menu and friend requested her to join his team. A window popped up in front of her asking if she'd like to accept. It took a minute of biting her lip and thinking hard, but she pressed the 'accept' button and the window disappeared. Finn looked at the name added to his friends list was surprised to find not the name Penny there.

But Kurt.

Oh. Finn felt a little proud of himself for not outright yelling his shock, but now he got why Penny – _Kurt _– was hiding from him. He was totally crushing on Penny, but this whole time it turned out she was a dude and that was just…ew.

…_Ew._

Then another horrifying thought struck him. If this guy's name was Kurt, surely that didn't mean he was Kurt _Hummel_. The gay kid Puck liked to throw in dumpsters. No way, this had to be a different Kurt. Because if it was the Kurt Finn was thinking about…

Well that was just shitty karma.

"Just this once," Kurt said softly, hunching his shoulders, "I'm a solo player."

"Got it," Finn cleared his throat uncomfortably. "So…this boss…"

…

They didn't face Lug immediately after the meeting. James was a paranoid man and gave everyone a week to keep leveling up and practicing strategies before facing the ogre. In Finn and Kurt's case they did this separately. Their plan was to simply give Lug a one two punch. One would come in to deliver a blow then back off while the next came in to continue. There were no special attacks, or formations, which suited Finn fine because he was still sort of grossed out that Kurt was a guy.

And now they found themselves with the other players in front of a huge door that led to the room in which Lug resided. Kurt's face remained half hidden by the hood of his cloak and had been quiet when Finn met up with him.

"Remember to avoid looking at his eyes or you'll be turned to stone, target his back and knock out his bat first before delivering a full attack," James instructed. The group nodded and he turned around and opened the door to a dark room within. Swallowing down bile and fear, Finn followed everyone else and pulled out his sword in anticipation.

Once everyone was inside, the door closed with a loud and ominous thud. The room lit up from torches hanging on the walls, and at the other end a loud roar peeled out. Stepping out of the shadows was a monstrously tall and ugly creature with fat muscular limbs, yellow green skin and bulging teeth that poked out from its upper lip. It charged at them wildly, swinging its fists around.

Remembering not to look at its eyes, Finn ran away from the group who separated into different formations and reached for Lug's back as fast as his legs could carry him.

From then on it was a desperate fight of steel against rock hard skin, cries of pain and anger echoing in the room. Finn tried to ignore the bodies of people being flung around like toys, landing in heaps on the stone floor and slowly disintegrating into nothingness. He spied James among them.

Meanwhile the ogre was barely even losing health. Finn stabbed and slashed as hard as he could at his back, but was suddenly flung away by the angered ogre. He stood back up hurriedly and scrambled away from a huge fist crashing down on the spot he'd been in. Catching his breath behind a pillar, he noted with alarm that his health was at twenty percent. If he wasn't careful, another blow could kill him. He looked back at Lug and saw his back open for another attack. Clenching his sword, he made another run for it, but stopped short in surprise when someone else beat him to it.

Kurt was running so hard that the cloak flew off revealing a slender boy barely into his teens. His hair was just like Penny's but shorter and stylized to the side. He held his sword by the hip much like he had when he first showed Finn how to use a weapon, but halfway to the ogre, the sword glowed and his pulled his left hand away with another sword.

The tips scraping against the stone floor, Kurt used the momentum to jumped high in the air and drive precise and deep slashes into Lug's spine. He landed on the floor gracefully and jumped back when the monster fell with a cry of pain. Finn was awestruck until Kurt turned to him sharply and yelled at him to start moving.

His face was wet with tears.

And it was definitely the Kurt Hummel Finn knew from school.

Before he lost his nerve, Finn ran to Lug and threw his sword at its neck, slicing clean through it. The head lopped off and the ogre disintegrated much like the wolves he and Kurt killed only days ago. The ding of congratulations did nothing to cheer him as he looked over the grief stricken faces of the survivors of their group.

Altogether they were six. They lost almost half their teammates.

Finn's menu popped up announcing that he'd gone up a level, attained the ability to use elixirs, and a fur coat to keep him warm for the next stage. He looked over to Kurt and saw him already in a black fur coat of his own.

"You're a beta tester aren't you?" one of the other players asked thickly though his grief. "You knew exactly how to kill it, and didn't step in until the last minute." Kurt turned to him angrily, "we were just your pawns to weaken Lug so you could finish him yourself."

"That's not true!" Kurt yelled indignantly, "I fought just as hard as you! I would never use other people for my own gain!"

"You let James and the others die!" the man yelled angrily, "I saw you! You fucking fag!"

Kurt paled at the word, his face livid. Finn winced, but didn't know which side to choose. Kurt was a part of his team after all, but he hadn't seen him fight till the last minute either. He was more focused on surviving to notice. Pursing his lips, Kurt turned away sharply and headed for the door that led to the next stage.

"Think what you want," but there was no strength behind his words and even though Lug was defeated, he didn't have the air of victory, "but I'm not a killer."

"Wait!" Finn ran after him, not sure why, but not wanting Kurt to leave like this. "Don't listen to them, they're just upset."

Kurt didn't look at him; he was glaring at the floor. Without a word, he opened up his menu and discontinued his friendship with Finn. Not much later, a window popped up in front of Finn telling him he was no longer friends with Kurt. That hurt, a little.

"You should probably find your friends," Kurt mumbled, "or at least people you can trust to form a guild."

"Come with me," Finn found himself say, and he meant it. "You're a good fighter; we can form a team together."

Kurt shook his head. "I'm soloing it out. Besides, it's the bully against bullied, and I don't trust anyone. Not even you." He gave a halfhearted shrug, "good luck."

He stepped through the door and shut it behind him. Finn hurriedly opened it again, but Kurt was nowhere in sight. Clenching his teeth, Finn wondered if he'd ever see him again.


	2. The New Directions

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

A/N: Thanks so much to taking interest in this fic! :D

ayu yumemoto: wow! I'm really flattered, the link you wrote didn't come through in your review, but all the same I would be honored if you did an illustration for ERA. Thanks so much!

LadyPhoenix731: to be honest the only games I've played are Alice: Madness Returns, and Kingdom Hearts, but that doesn't mean I'll be lacking in knowledge on rpg, at least I'll try not to! lol I'll be researching my ass off for this fic so I hope you'll enjoy the direction I take this fic game wise :)

…

Chapter Two

The New Directions

…

Finn found his friends in the second stage while in the middle of scrapping up enough money to book a room at an inn. In between killing strange creatures that looked like cousins of dragons, he had looked and asked around for Kurt, but found nothing new. Enough time had passed for him to get over himself on his disgust of having an attraction to Kurt as a girl. Considering what was at stake in this game, Finn couldn't waste his time being immature anyway. Kurt was a beta tester with more knowledge than him of the game, and obviously a good fighter, Finn needed him if he wanted to go home.

He felt a little proud of himself to have figured this out on his own without throwing a fit. His mother would be proud of him, too.

Unfortunately, no one had news of the solo player, the most Finn was able to find were daily updates on players and their status through his menu. Kurt had blocked out most of his information from the public eye, but at least Finn knew he was still alive.

Finding his friends was an immense relief after wandering around the Viking era by himself. Unlike Harvest Land, everyone here looked intimidating and eager to chop someone's head off.

Even better, Puck was in company with Azimio and Karofsky. Finn may have not liked them very much back home, but their brute strength would be useful against bosses, and really, that was all he truly needed. According to them, no one they knew had died which was good news so far. Finn figured now was as good a time as any to follow Kurt's advice and form their own guild like everyone else already had.

So they called themselves The Pack. It was a name that hadn't been used yet, and they couldn't settle on anything else since they each wanted the guild named after themselves. Frankly, Finn couldn't see himself being a part of a guild called Azimio's Fist.

Happy as he was to be reunited with friends, Finn refrained from telling them about Kurt Hummel. How could he when the kid was their main target to push around at school? The subject of Kurt was never touched until one day when he went downstairs to the inn's pub for a bite to eat.

Everyone was huddled by a screen that hung by the wall across the bar. Even though the Vikings didn't have electricity, the creators had put in screens in facilities so people could watch battles while enjoying dinner or shopping. Sort of like watching the game at a bar. Due to the changed nature of the game, however, no one was willing to watch battles and seeing the loser die, so the screens were normally ignored or put behind a curtain.

This time, however, everyone had their eyes glued to the battle playing out before them. Finn spotted Puck, Mike, and Matt at a table nearby and sat down curiously. "What's up?" he asked, trying to figure out what kind of battle was showing. It was obviously a battle with the boss Jormungandr the Midgard Serpent, an enormous creature that lived in the sea. He couldn't make out any warriors.

"You're not gonna believe this," Mike said under his breath, not taking his eyes from the fight, Matt nodded beside him. Frowning, Finn watched curiously and then realized something. At the top corners of the screen there showed two life lines. In a boss battle there would usually be about twenty dots that would flash different colors of health, but this one only showed one.

Which meant one person was taking on the serpent on their own.

"Oh my god," Finn found himself murmur.

"Yeah," Puck agreed darkly, "and guess who it is."

The focus backed away and around as the battle continued, but for a brief second the challenger took up the screen. Sweaty and in all kinds of beaten up, a boy with chestnut hair gasped for air, face twisted in grim determination. Finn paled at the sight. The focus backed away to show both fighters and he watched with growing horror as the serpent swung its menacing head at the fragile teen. Seconds ticked by like hours as steadily, Kurt's health dropped closer to zero and Jormungandr's remained at seventy percent. Finn wanted to look away, but he couldn't out of shock.

"He's going to die," he found himself say. No one else replied, knowing it would happen, too. Yet they still looked on grimly, waiting for the inevitable. The inn grew quiet in anticipation for the end now that Kurt's health was at ten percent. If he didn't die from the boss, he would drown in the sea what with his boat falling apart. Finn was ready for the boy's death until suddenly something happened.

He was glowing red. A sign of Panic Mode. Finn had read about it on the handbook. Once a player got to a certain level, they acquired Panic Mode, tremendous strength and speed when health was critically low. You'd have to be at level twenty or something to get it. Finn was only at level fifteen, and he had worked tirelessly day and night to get stronger. Once the mode had been activated, some of the patrons started to murmur in surprise and hope.

The serpent burst out a breath of fire, but Kurt darted away and made quick work of slicing the creature up in the same pattern Finn recalled from when they fought Lug. The limit of his Panic was draining quickly, and Jormungandr was still at twenty percent. The murmur in the pub grew, fists clenching as everyone found themselves feeling like they were in the fight themselves. It didn't matter if they had no idea who this brave person was; they wanted him to win no matter what the odds.

Fortunately, Kurt had another trick up his sleeve. He ran up the back of the monster's mutilated back and jumped in the air, throwing his hands forward roughly. Little daggers glowed around him and shot forward like bullets piercing through the serpent mercilessly and draining his health to zero. Finn recognized the weapon as Hundred Daggers; he saw them at a blacksmith shop a while back but didn't have the money to buy it. The great creature toppled over into the angry sea and disintegrated in defeat.

Kurt landed gracelessly on his flimsy yet stable boat, stumbling to his knees. The word 'Victory!' flashing over him while he pulled out a crystal bottle of Elixir from his coat and downed it in one gulp.

Finn remained shaken in his seat as the bar became alive with cries and cheers of shock and relief. If someone were to walk in they'd assume a sports team just won the championships. Even Puck, the guy who took joy in throwing Kurt in dirty dumpsters back home, was screaming with everyone, more impressed than Finn had ever seen him. Too many swear words were tumbling from him for Finn to understand what he was saying.

After that day, stories of the solo player who defeated a boss on his own became legend.

…

Stage Ten

Salem

One Month into ERA

The past nine stages were little worlds of their own which contained towns, a capital, and government. It was also noted that while as a whole ERA's stages represented periods in history from all over the world, they were not completely historically accurate. Harvest Land was a good example of this – ogre's never existed. Whatever legends that period had be it dragons, elves, or sea serpents, they were very real within ERA.

But there were also stages that didn't happen in history. Fantastical lands that existed perhaps in genre or folklore, but were never truly real in all existence of humanity. Stage eight, Parchment Pain, had thrown Finn for the loop because of this since it was a nightmarish adaptation of classics like Frankenstein, Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol, and several other stories. These stages, however, were smaller than others, and easy to get through, if a bit unpleasant. Finn never wanted to return to the horrors of Parchment Pain, secretly making that promise to himself once he and his guild beat the boss. Apparently stages like these were designed to keep the player invested in the game rather that get bored with the constant slow lag of the historical stages that were more integral to the theme of ERA. Finn didn't get it, and didn't really want to.

So when they got to the tenth stage, The Pack didn't know what to expect. The clothes they earned from defeating the ninth boss looked strangely familiar from history books. It wasn't simply a coat or protective cloak; it was an entire outfit that had no magical protection other than making them look kind of Amish.

Finn entered the new stage with his guild and was greeted by a worn down wooden sign that read, "Welcome to Salem Village" on the side of a dirt road they found themselves in.

Puck looked at his plain black and white clothes in displeasure, then at the sign and thought hard. Maybe a little too hard. "We're hunting witches now?" he asked finally. Finn shrugged and led the way down the path that would take them into the only town that could be seen.

"Do you think it'd be bad if we just change back to our armor?" Mike asked curiously, noting that their clothes really didn't have any form of protection for them. After nine stages of armor and uniforms, wearing regular clothes was a bit unsettling.

Finn eyed the few farmers they passed by, they were only simulations, but they were giving them strange and guarded looks. "That would probably be a bad idea," he said finally. They were holding their rakes like potential weapons.

After a few minutes of silence, Puck spoke up again, "so who else is here?" he made to check his menu, but Finn grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"You'll freak them out," he hissed under his breath, nodding towards the passerby that were throwing glances at them, "they'll probably think you're a witch if you pull up your menu."

"So what? They're just simulations," Puck yanked his hand away, but didn't open his menu. They trekked on and entered a quiet town where more simulations looked at them oddly. Finn didn't know what the fuss was about, they looked just like them, did they have snakes on their heads or something? Whatever it was, it was really bothering Azimio and Karofsky, and Finn feared a pointless fight would break out.

Luckily that didn't happen, the group lodged in the closest inn and tried to figure out how to deal with their new problem.

Closing the only window in the room, Matt turned to the others and nodded. With little relief they pulled up their menus and tried to get as much information as possible.

Apart from Salem Village, there was a forest nearby where supposedly witches in the guise of young women danced naked around fires. That caught Puck's interest immediately. It was also a place of mystery. People who went in never came out, at least people who weren't 'witches'. The farms near town were nothing significant, and it appeared that there were no enemies to slay or missions to level up which presented a problem if they wanted to defeat the boss whom right now was a mystery too.

There were a few other players in Salem, but not many, and certainly not enough to challenge a boss. They would have to wait until others arrived to team up. Kurt may have been able to defeat a sea serpent by himself, but no other player was that bold. Teams were safer.

"We'll head out to the forest, then," Finn sighed after mulling over their next move. "There's nothing here but a place to sleep."

"I don't feel comfortable sleeping here," Mike muttered, glancing at the door.

"They're simulations, idiot," Puck crossed his arms, "they can't do anything to us – can't even open doors to rooms players are in." Mike didn't seem convinced, and Finn wasn't patient enough to stay in Salem any longer. They left the inn and trekked to the forest, ignoring the piercing stares of the town folk.

…

The pair were breathless from all the running. They didn't know how far in the forest they were in, just that they needed to get as far away from town as possible. When they could no longer see the glow of angry fire and cries of murder, they finally stopped by a pond and slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

"That…sucked," gasped the girl of the pair, wiping cold sweat from her pale forehead. The bespectacled boy beside her nodded, panting and throwing himself on his back dramatically.

"They're a … lot more…angry than I last…remembered," he said, chest heaving.

They took the next few minutes to catch their breaths, the ache in their muscles still burning. By the time they settled down, the girl turned to her friend with a question on her tongue when something startled them into scrambling to their feet.

Someone was screaming from a long distance, and they at first thought that it was a bird. The scream quickly turned louder until it felt like whoever it was, was upon them. The boy and girl looked around, ready to run again until the person screaming literally fell from the sky and into into the pond with an explosive splash.

For a moment nothing happened. The boy and girl glanced at each other, clearly expecting the other to know what just happened. They screamed in fright when the person who fell burst out of the water gasping for air. Had it been any other person they would have run away without caring if it was a friendly player or murderous simulation.

This one stumbled out of the water, her simple dress soaked through and a crude broom clutched in her hand. They immediately recognized her and fell back in relief and secretly, disappointment.

"Rachel!" the girl said sharply, "where have you been! You left us for dead!"

Throwing her wet hair back and making general noises of displeasure over the state of her clothes, Rachel looked up at her little audience and cried out in relief, "Tina! Artie! I've been looking all over for you!"

"You left us!" Tina said with ill hidden rage.

"They were going to hang us," Artie pitched in, glaring over his glasses. Rachel recoiled sheepishly. "All because you wanted to go _flying._"

"In broad daylight," the Asian girl added, crossing her arms, "this isn't like the beta test, Rachel, we could get killed here!"

"B-but, they're just simulations," the brunette held her broom close to her. "And you guys could have flown away too! Where are your brooms?"

"Confiscated," Artie grumbled, "besides, even if they're just simulations, I don't want to go and find out that a hanging won't kill us either. Or a burning."

Rachel winced, pouting at being rightfully scolded. "Sorry," she mumbled. Her two friends still weren't satisfied so she added helpfully, "but I found the graveyard! All we need to do is say the spell and we can get this stage over with."

That did seem to please Tina and Artie somewhat, but they were still pissed at the girl for leaving them behind. They had only been with her for a few weeks and already their patience was drawing thin. This girl was bossy, sporadic, a chatterbox, and for some strange reason believed herself the leader of their little group even though she was the last to join them – and not even for very long. They only let her tag along because they knew her from before ERA and felt it best to have as many beta testers together as possible.

After being with this girl for two weeks, though, they could hardly believe anymore that she had reached stage ninety nine in the beta test. She may have been a nimble performer on stage back in McKinley, but she was truly an awful gamer.

Sharing a tired look, the pair followed the girl through the forest, hoping to get this stage done as soon as possible without the need to kill their 'leader'.

…

The forest was thick and provided protection for Finn and the others to open their menu's for the map. Past the forest was another place called Salem Town. No players were there yet, but there were a few clusters in the forest, probably with the same idea as them.

"The grave yard looks promising," Mike noted.

"What the hell would a graveyard be doin' in a forest?" Azimio piped up irritably. Finn almost forgot he and Karofsky were still with them.

"How should I know, it's still worth looking," Mike shrugged, putting away his menu.

They walked deeper into the forest in silence, occasionally spying a few players from afar. They noticed them too, but quickly went back to what they were doing, acting like they hadn't seen them at all. It was a behavior that Finn was reluctantly getting used to. Azimio and Karofsky may have been great assets to their team for combat, but the downside was that they hadn't given up their habits from school. It was getting harder and harder to find other guilds to team up against a boss. Nine floors into the game and already The Pack had made a terrible name for itself.

Puck wasn't a big help with getting them to tone down either, often times joining them in belittling other players that appeared weaker than them. They'd started to listen to Finn less, viewing Puck as a better leader. Mike and Matt were still on his side, but it was obvious the guild was becoming divided, and Finn didn't know what to do to fix it.

Normally to fight a boss, they would take a few weeks to level up, plan strategies, and acquire techniques, money, and protective garments and jewelry. Not to mention a hefty stock of healing potions and elixirs. Within that time they would argue amongst themselves, splitting up for a few days and then regroup to grudgingly prepare to fight the boss. They used to be friends – a _team_ back in McKinley, and now it was getting harder to keep from tearing each other apart. This was not how a team worked, Finn was seriously thinking about leaving and joining another guild, but who would want someone from The Pack? People thought he was a bully too. Letting Azimio and Karofsky do what they wanted, maybe he was.

Finn walked grimly down the beaten path many other players walked through. He had to do something about Azimio and Karofsky if he wanted to survive. But what?

The answer came to him in the form of a girl crashing into him at full dash, knocking him to the ground.

Both groaning in pain, Finn looked around in disorientation until he found himself looking into the dark eyes of an Asian girl with streaked blue highlights and a look of pain twisting her face.

A few years from now he would fondly consider this girl his best friend, but now he recognized her as the creepy goth chick his friends liked to tease and slushie in the crowded halls of their high school. He hadn't seen her in ages, and even if she was just one of the many faces he passed by, her presence had given him a warm sense of nostalgia he'd been missing for a long time.

The girl felt the same, but in the polar opposite sense.

"_You!_" she yelled, scrambling to her feet, not missing to kick him a little bit on the way. Grunting in pain, Finn stood as well, clutching his side where she first hit him. Behind her was a boy and girl he also recognized from school.

"You're in this game too?" the girl of the two asked in surprise. She was dressed unlike Finn's group, her dress hugging her body in the right places and the dark color of burgundy. This was not how the women in Salem village were dressed, but the outfit didn't make her sleazy either. Finn remembered her as the one Quinn liked to tease most, especially with her old fashioned taste in clothes. "Are you a beta tester?"

"Negative," the boy beside her stated flatly, adjusting his glasses from the run he'd been in. He was in a black outfit and cape, and contrary to how Finn remembered, he was standing confidently on his own two feet. "If you observe their attire you can see that they aren't beta testers," he narrowed his eyes disapprovingly, "they're bullies."

He didn't have to state the obvious, he had suffered the same mirthful torture the football team threw at him just as his two companions, but saying it made their reunion all the more grimmer. Unlike McKinley, Finn had a feeling these three had a distinct advantage despite being drastically outnumbered.

The thought of Kurt buried in a dumpster with banana peels and discarded papers and boxes flashed through his head. He remembered holding his jacket so it wouldn't be dirtied in the garbage while Puck lifted the small boy effortlessly and threw him in the smelly dump. It was the last Finn really saw him in the real world before he met him again in the form of a girl. Ever since then he'd wanted to apologize for everything he'd done. Seeing these three other victims of his friends – and regrettably his own – abuse reminded him that he had a huge debt to pay.

"If you hadn't realized yet, you are at a significant disadvantage," the boy, Artie, answered Mike's curious frown at his clothes. "There isn't one beta tester in this game who hasn't been bullied – on the other end; there isn't a new player who wasn't a bully. Namely you."

"What?" Puck had that funny look on his face that was usually kept for classes he could never understand, "That's stupid."

"Whatever, let's just go," Tina shook her head, already marching past Finn and sheathing something slender by her hip he hadn't noticed her holding. Artie and the pretty girl followed her, clearly not wanting to, but doing so anyway.

Puck and the others were about to go their own direction, but Finn remained. This may be the only chance he had, ERA had killed many players already, and he didn't want the guilt to weigh heavy in his heart if he didn't survive without having gotten this off his chest first. "Wait!"

The three paused briefly, but continued, the girl – Rachel, he remembered – glanced back uncertainly. She really was very pretty, and he wondered why he hadn't noticed her before.

"Wait, please, I just want to – whoa," he stopped short in chasing them and raised his hands in defense when Tina turned sharply and pointed a cruel looking stick at his face. It was so sudden he expected it to be a knife, but seeing as it was just a stick he felt sheepish for feeling frightened.

His mistake. A light burst from the stick and he flew back and hit his back against a tree.

Oh. Not stick. Magic wand. Right.

Groaning in pain, he leaned against the tree and tried to blink out the stars invading his eyes. He could hear some of his friends yelling and coming to his aid. Shaking his head, he looked blearily around and found Tina in front of him again. Wand aimed at him like a pistol threatening to fire.

"Here's the deal," she said coldly, throwing her other hand out to the direction of his approaching team. They crashed into an invisible wall and fell, faces locked in confusion. "You leave us be, and we don't hurt you like you've hurt us. Understood?"

Finn was still catching his breath, but he was a bit thrown off. The last he remembered, Tina was a quiet girl who took the bullying in resignation. She never spoke up much less stood up for herself. From what he could recall she even had a stutter which turned people away. She was the ultimate definition of shy and yet this person was prepared to break his bones if given the chance.

Was this the result of game play, or that they'd been in ERA for so long?

"I just wanted to apologize," he said slowly, raising his hands to show he meant no harm.

"So you can use us to beat the game?" Artie spoke up from behind Tina in disgust. "Sorry but we're a beta only guild. Go find yourself some other kids to bully."

"Wait, guys, if we leave them behind we'd be no better," Rachel said quickly, Tina rolled her eyes, apparently having experienced this talk before, "We're only three people, that's not enough to take on the Witch Hunter."

"Who said I wanted you to join us?" Azimio asked sharply. He and the others were standing at a safer distance from Tina, but they weren't leaving yet, "You wanna settle this, we settle this now," he pulled out the ax he gained in the second stage, a weapon he'd grown fond of for its monstrous power. He didn't earn it though, it belonged to a player that fell asleep at a pub and hadn't locked his weapons leaving them open to get stolen by anyone.

"This isn't McKinley anymore, Azimio," Rachel glared, "you beat us in a fight then that makes you a murderer. We have to work together if we want to survive."

"I'm surviving just fine," the angered teen growled, Karofsky nodded dumbly beside him, but he hadn't pulled out a weapon yet, the word 'murderer' didn't sit right with him.

"We're not fighting, Azimio put that away," Finn ordered, strength returning to his legs enough to not need the tree for support. He couldn't see his health, but knew it went down by at least ten percent, already it was restoring itself, but he did feel impressed that Tina had hit him hard enough to really hurt. "Look, I didn't ask if you wanted to join…but I wouldn't mind the extra help, we…" he kept his face away from his group in shame and looked only at Tina. "We don't know what we're doing – I don't even play these kind of games, we're lucky we've gotten this far at all." Tina scoffed in agreement, but her wand remained straight at his chest. "But I really did just want to apologize for everything I did to you guys back home. I can't speak for the others, I know I was a douche to stand there and not do anything when they pushed you around and stuff."

"Apology accepted," Rachel said primly, pleased.

"He's only saying this so he can use us," Tina frowned. "We're not letting them join," she added, sensing the brunette about to suggest so. "Especially with those idiots," she nodded past Finn to the indignant group.

"Tina, we can't just turn them away," Rachel argued, "we aren't even a real guild – we're sitting ducks!"

Tina backed away slowly. "If you hadn't been so busy singing and dancing you would have realized that there are guilds out there that take advantage of players. The Pack," she spat loathingly, making Finn wince, "are a group of immature thugs who steal and beat up people for no reason other than the pleasure of giving others pain."

That burned. Finn wanted to scream that it wasn't true, but he had seen Azimio, Karofsky, and Puck rejoin them with new items and attire that didn't quite match with the level's they gained. That coupled with the scathing looks of other players and accusations that they had stolen from them didn't leave much to the imagination but one simple answer. It was true.

Which made his apology fall on deaf ears.

He wanted to ask if they knew anything about Kurt's status other than being alive, but knew now they wouldn't give him an answer. They couldn't trust him with such information that could put the solo player in danger after all.

But he really wanted to know how the other boy had been doing.

If he could join his guild and they could finish the game once and for all.

That chance was lost the minute he let his friends ruin in his reputation. Even if Tina did give him information, Kurt would never join him.

"That…that can't be true," Rachel stammered.

"You don't believe me, ask anyone," Tina said darkly, lowering her wand, but not relaxing, "we're leaving, but if you follow us, I'll make sure you'll regret it."

Finn believed her and watched with a heavy heart as she and her two friends took off down the shadows of the forest.

…

What followed after the short reunion was an argument that lasted barely a few minutes and left Finn with his blood boiling.

They were settled in a spot some distance away from other players and had set up a fire and camp for the time being. There was a silent agreement that the inn back at Salem Village was not a good place to go back to. Instead they went their separate ways to hunt for food.

Finn returned to camp with rabbit, and two quail cards, and found Azimio fiddling over a hefty pile of duck and deer. Azimio had about as much hunting skill as a three year old; he was more concerned with leveling up his combat skills than any other skills ERA provided. As far as Finn could tell, the other boy's hunting skill was around a measly level seven. Not enough to capture something like a duck or deer.

Looking at Karofsky and Puck, they had catches similar to Azimio, though in Puck's defense, Finn could believe his catches were legitimate. He had the highest hunting skill of the group.

Matt and Mike were huddled by the fire, pointedly ignoring them as they set up what was needed to cook their food.

"Where did you get those cards?" Finn broke the small din, marching over to Azimio and Karofsky.

Without looking up, Azimio picked out the deer and went to the contraption of branches pitted together to form a kind of crane over the fire with a pot tied to the end. It was elaborate and a waste of effort for someone who just wanted to eat quickly, but it gained Matt and Mike points for this more advanced technique in outdoors cooking, they had both earned enough to level up their cooking skills. With Azimio tossing them the card, they went to work again to get more points by cooking the deer. Flashing Finn guilty looks, they opened the mini menu of the card, murmuring to each other as they pressed random buttons on how the meat would be cut and cooked.

"Does it matter how I got it? We won't starve," Azimio drawled, crossing his arms defiantly.

Finn grit his teeth and tried not to scream. "Who was it this time?"

"Some wimpy kid," he didn't even deny it, "he had more than enough cards on him, won't notice I took a few."

"That doesn't make it right!" Finn spat.

"It's better than what you got," Azimio snarled, nodding to the card in Finn's hand, "what you get a mouse or somethin'? I can't survive on shit like that."

"Give those cards back," Finn said slowly, threateningly. "You're not stealing anymore."

"Dude, is this about the crazy chick?" Puck asked with an arched eyebrow, "just forget about her, we're winning this game, we'll be fine like this – "

"We're on level ten! How does that count for winning?" Finn yelled at his best friend. Puck merely sighed and shook his head, going back to his pile of cards. Finn turned back to Azimio and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him close, "you're going back and giving that kid his cards, I've had enough of you stealing – you too," he looked over at Karofsky who had been picking his ear and watching them listlessly.

"The hell I am," Azimio growled, pulling Finn off and swinging a punch. The taller boy stumbled back, cradling his cheek which pulsed hotly in pain. "I ain't takin' orders from you anymore. I'm done with – " He didn't have time to finish, Finn lunged at him and they fell to the ground in a heap, fists flying and legs kicking mindlessly in blind fury.

His blood was burning with anger and frustration. ERA had taken his life from him. His friends were no longer his friends, he wasn't the star quarterback with the head cheerleader girlfriend, he was stuck here. Here he was someone nobody liked; here he let his friends destroy themselves in greed and sadistic pleasures. He was going to die here and it was all welling up into a giant ball of hurt inside him that blew up when Azimio decided to take from others again. He was done, he couldn't take this anymore. He wanted to go home.

He wanted this to all be a really bad nightmare.

Finn cried out in surprise when he was blasted backwards by an invisible force. For a second he thought it was Tina, but when he looked up from where he lay he saw Matt looking down at him hard, and then at Azimio who was breathing heavily from the brawl. No one said anything, not even the onlookers who were starting to grow nervous.

As far as fights were concerned, Matt never put himself between them. He was a quiet person, but in all honesty he was also the strongest by far, and a smart player. Whenever Finn and Azimio argued, the quiet teen would ignore them and let them get their frustrations out. This time though, they let their fight go too far. Matt stepping in was something of an anomaly, and not a very pleasant one.

No one messed with Matt.

Standing up, Finn looked away from his friend, the fight in him dying away, but the defeat still clinging to him like a disease.

"I'm done with this," he muttered.

And he left, into the darkness of the woods, leaving his abandoned guild behind.

…

"'Seven stars of hearts as true as gold.'" Rachel read aloud from the massive tombstone in the middle of the rough looking cemetery. Underneath the engraved quotation were seven holes aligned to form a circle. The brunette turned to her two companions sheepishly. "I-I didn't think this part would change…"

Tina and Artie blinked at her, then called up their handbooks. They skimmed through information dealing with the tenth stage for confirmation then slammed their books shut in frustration.

"Great," Tina grumbled, "it's not three anymore, it's seven."

"That means the other side is much stronger than the beta test," Artie frowned. They looked at each other hoping someone had an idea, but silence remained. A coldness and mist had settled over the evening in the graveyard, and it sent a chill of goose bumps over them. It wasn't a nice looking place as far as graveyards went, the only way anyone could tell that bodies were buried six feet under were the random bits of rotting wooden boards sticking up from the ground, and even then there weren't any names or dates. It was a stowed away graveyard kept out of sight from both Salem Village and Salem Town. A place condemned to those accused of witchcraft. Even the beautiful glow of the moon couldn't make the place look any less lonely.

"I told you we should have let those guys join," Rachel pouted, earning glares from the boy and girl.

…

He didn't know how far he walked, but his anger was starting to wan, concern for finding a place to sleep coming to the forefront of his mind now that he was far away from his friends.

Finn sighed dejectedly. Friends? They weren't his friends, not anymore anyway. At least, Azimio and Karofsky weren't, but then they weren't really his friends back home either. Just a pair that had been in his life long before high school. He was more upset over leaving, Mike, Matt, and Puck. Those guys were his real friends. Or he thought they were until ERA ruined their lives.

He stopped by an oak tree to look up at the starry night sky. A simulation like everything else, but still a comfort. It made him feel like it was just another night, and the next day would promise a brighter day. In his case, he wasn't sure what to expect the next day. He left his guild, his friends…He was alone again. More lost than ever in every sense of the word.

Rustling nearby caught his attention. He tapped his right temple, his vision of the night forest changing to different shades of heat signatures. Amongst the small nocturnal animals that scuttled here and there in scant groups there was a large figure of a person struggling to get through a thick blueberry bush. Finn waited in confusion, wondering why this person wasn't taking an easier route. He removed the heat vision and approached the bush, pulling some of it aside.

The person on the other side stumbled through and crashed on the ground. He groaned in pain and gingerly got to his feet, wiping the dirt from his front sluggishly. Finn watched with growing concern as the stranger stumbled again as if in drunken stupor. The hood that covered his head when he fell slipped off as he struggled for stability. Finn had no idea what to do as the person got closer to him. He fell into his arms and lost his footing once more, Finn held a better grip on him before he could hurt himself and gently set him down.

The pale sweaty face glowed in the moonlight; eyes half closed and trapped in another world. What normally would have been blue eyes were now as white as snow, sharpening the small pupils within the irises. There was an angry red mark on his neck, little teeth marks a clue to the boy's present state.

"Kurt," the name slipped from Finn's mouth in shock. The solo player didn't react to him – didn't even acknowledge his presence, his body shuddering as the poison of whatever bit him seeped through him. Finn saw with alarm that his health was at a dangerously low twenty percent and was slowly lowering as the seconds ticked by. Panicking, he fumbled through his pockets for a strong potion.

He hadn't done any shopping in Salem, and there were no enemies to fight for prizes, all Finn had were what was left from the ninth stage which was six regular potions, a few ether's that restored magic, and an elixir. Knowing a simple potion wouldn't be good enough to help Kurt, Finn pulled out the elixir, knowing in the back of his mind that it was going to suck finding more. Elixir's were expensive and hard to come by. The higher the stage the more precious they were.

Biting off the stopper, Finn craned Kurt's head and eased the golden bottle to his dried and cracked lips.

He waited in anxious silence as the poisoned boy weakly drank the healing liquid, the shudders cutting through his body slowing to a stop. The bite mark on his neck faded away, and color returned to his complexion. Finn noted with relief that the countdown of Kurt's health stopped at eight percent and was slowly going back up. He wouldn't be completely healed, but he wasn't in danger of death either. The rest of the healing would have to be done by Kurt's regenerative abilities, which would take a while considering his condition.

Once Kurt had the last drop, the bottle disintegrated. He sighed tiredly, eyes fluttering shut as peaceful sleep took him. Finn let out a breath he'd been holding in anticipation. Weeks of wondering how Kurt had been doing and he stumbles into his arms seconds from death. He was really lucky Finn had been around to help him. From the looks of his clothes, he hadn't been fairing well as a solo player. He was in something similar to what Artie was dressed in, but it was all torn up, as if he'd been through a fight against a mob of people. Whatever he went through was not very pleasant.

Looking around for the first time Finn saw that they were in a small cluster of trees that surrounded them like a natural room. Carefully, settling Kurt comfortably on the ground, he took off the coat that came with his Salem outfit and draped it over the sleeping boy. Kurt stirred with a happy hum, but otherwise didn't wake up.

Sighing over their strange situation, Finn flipped through his menu for anything that would be useful for camping.

…

A month had passed since his son had been trapped in the virtual reality game. Finding him on the floor in his bedroom was something that would forever be engrained in Burt's head. The only reason he didn't pull off the helmet was because Kurt always assured him he would sign out by dinner time. At least that was when he was doing the beta test. He also read over the warnings with him before trying out the game so that he'd be at ease when his son would put the headgear on.

So Burt knew what would happen if he took it off.

The beta test had gone swiftly, and frankly it was what Kurt needed. Lately he wasn't very happy. He hated high school, and he hated the phone calls they'd get from ignorant people. He needed an escape, and ERA helped give him that. Burt may have not liked it, Kurt could have done better by going out and making friends with real people, but he seemed happier, more relaxed and comfortable in his own skin. Whatever ERA did, it improved Kurt's confidence. It transferred on to his time in school, and the bullying was starting to have less effect on him.

But it wasn't the way Burt wanted Kurt to go. He didn't want him holed up in his room playing video games. That wasn't the Kurt he knew, Kurt loved to sing, he loved to dance and quote random Broadway plays that he knew by heart. Whatever friends he made in ERA could never be like the friendships he could have made in reality where people loved him for him and enjoyed his company simply because he was Kurt and not someone who would kill monster simulations for them.

And when Kurt had come close to the end of the game he suddenly stopped and things went downhill again. He didn't tell his father what was wrong, barely hiding the hurt in his eyes. The only good thing was that he was back in the real world and Burt felt like he hadn't seen his son in years. He tried to be a better listener; he tried to be there whenever Kurt would come back from a bad day at school. ERA had helped Kurt's confidence, but it also stole him from Burt, and he didn't want that to happen again.

Sitting by his son in the hospital bed, Burt's heart was broken.

Why did Kurt go back in the game? Why couldn't he take on the real world?

He knew Kurt was strong enough so why? Why did he leave him again?

What Ryan was able to do with the video recordings was a great relief to most parents, including Burt, but it was a double edged sword. Not only did they watch their loved ones process in the game, they also bared witness to their deaths from both players and enemies. Fights had broken out several times, forcing the hospital to get more security guards and regulations to restore peace. Every day Burt came to see Kurt was one filled with anxiety and the constant dread that today his son might die.

He was sitting stonily by his boy, watching with tears in his eyes as Kurt lay dying in another player's arms. He kept praying for a miracle, clasping his son's hand while Finn frantically gave Kurt a weird bottle. He buried his face in trembling hands when he saw that Kurt would not die, his health having been restored and the beating on the heart monitor remaining steady.

Burt remained by his side the rest of the day, shaken over what could have happened. He was later greeted by a woman named Carole, the mother of the boy who saved his son's life.

…

The sun warming his face and burning through his eyelids woke him up the next day. Despite the cold of fall chilling the tip of his nose, Kurt felt warm. He was lying on something furry, and now that he was really waking up, there was someone else beside him, a heavy arm draped over his waist. He turned over slowly.

And came face to face with Finn Hudson, still happily asleep and unaware of the other boy.

Kurt's heart thudded against his chest. He just spent the night with Finn Hudson. Fighting alongside him on Harvest Land had been more than a pleasure even if he had to hide it, but he never dreamed that waking up next to him would come true. Well, technically it really wasn't true, he was sure he was in a hospital somewhere back home, probably not in the same room as the other boy. All the same, Finn was here with him, his warmth coupled with the fur skins covering them keeping Kurt in a comfortable cocoon he never wanted to leave.

What the hell happened last night?

Finn stirred, his eyes fluttering open, and blinking blearily in the sun. He was considering going back to sleep, tugging Kurt closer for more warmth and comfort when it dawned on him that it was _Kurt._ Not his girlfriend or random hot chick, _Kurt._

That was enough to scare the sleep away. He shot up in fright, remembering the events of last night that led to him cuddling with Kurt for warmth and sleep. He fought from freaking out and frightening the pale boy.

"O-oh, you're awake," he said lamely. Kurt looked up at him with wide eyes, clearly more lost than him, "we didn't do anything," he said immediately, secretly needing to hear it himself, "um…a lot of shit went down last night and...yeah…"

The solo player sat up carefully. "Okay…" he said quietly, "I don't remember anything so…how did I end up here?"

"You were poisoned," Finn was quick to answer, pointedly ignoring the strange look on the other boy's face; he'd forgotten how uncomfortable he'd feel around him when he had that look. Weeks of being away from him and gaining respect for his skills as a player from afar would do that. "You couldn't help yourself so I gave you an elixir and you fell asleep."

"Oh," Kurt frowned at his lap, tracing over the soft brown fur of the skins. He recognized them from the animals on the fifth stage, a particularly humiliating world of cavemen where players walked around with clubs and only animal skins to keep them clothed. As someone who cared for how he looked, even Kurt couldn't escape the caveman look. "I was poisoned?"

Finn nodded, "by a bug I think, you had a nasty bite mark on your neck – it's gone now," he added when Kurt's hand flew up to his neck. "I couldn't figure out what it was from I was more focused on giving you the elixir."

Kurt didn't say anything, a thoughtful look in his eyes, blue again, Finn noted absently. "I…oh…" he rubbed his eyes, "I see."

"What happened?" Finn asked.

Kurt shook his head, "something stupid, don't worry, I just need to get my stuff back." He peeled off the animal skins, the cold of fall bristling through his skin.

"Wait," Finn grabbed his arm, keeping him in place, "you're stuff? Were you mugged or something?"

"No…" Kurt mumbled, obviously lying.

"Who was it?" Finn frowned, the only people he could think would do this were The Pack, but even then Kurt was a strong player, he could probably take on ten people let alone three or two. "It wasn't Azimio was it?"

"No," Kurt ran a hand through his hair, disheveled from his sleep, and sticking up at odd angles. He looked younger like this, almost childlike. "It doesn't matter; I've still got some weapons I'll just get the rest of my stuff back."

"Then let me help you." Kurt turned to him with a frown, a light blush on his cheeks. Self consciously, Finn realized he was still holding his hand and let go. "Whoever they are almost killed you, and you're a strong player – you took on a boss by yourself – "

"How'd you know that?"

"Everyone knows, dude - If I come with you maybe they won't try poisoning you again – I can help you."

The small boy looked from Finn to his lap where his fingers were twisting nervously, "why do you want to help me?"

"Because…" Finn gestured with his hands obscurely, the shame from yesterday returning, "I want to make up for…everything…"

"Everything?" Kurt mumbled.

"You know, with the slushies and the dumpsters, and the pushing around, and…me just standing there doing nothing…" he dropped his hand like a dead weight, it felt like no matter how many times he said it, the guilt was still eating up inside him. He didn't just want to apologize, he wanted to be forgiven. But at the same time he knew he didn't deserve it.

Kurt bit the corner of his lip, nervously neatening his hair, "you know I…I never thought of you as the actual – "

He didn't finish that sentence. Right at that moment they could hear people approaching. Before the pair could scramble away from each other the small group was upon them, arguing amongst themselves, but stopping short when they spotted Finn and Kurt on the ground and sharing a makeshift bed out of fur.

The sight didn't leave much to the imagination to an outsider. Both turned red in mortification. Tina, Artie, and Rachel looked down at them with unreadable expressions.

"Uh…hello…" Finn blurted out weakly. The trio looked from him to Kurt, not quite able to compute what this sight was. The quarterback and flaming gay kid together…in a 'bed'…really close…looking suspiciously guilty…

Artie removed his glasses and wiped them hard before replacing them. Nope, this was real.

"This isn't what it looks like," Kurt sighed, getting out of the warmth of the fur. The confused faces turned to concern once they saw that his clothes were in poor state. Grimacing at having slept in rags, Kurt opened his menu and quickly selected a casual t-shirt and jeans. Finn frowned. In all the stages, he'd never come across such modern clothes. It was a far cry from the kind of attire he'd seen the other boy in at school, but it was still a great deal more comfortable than the itchy stuff he was forced to wear.

Tina and the others weren't distracted by this change of clothes, instead shaking themselves out of their shock. The Asian girl was the first to hug him, a look of kindness sweeping over her face. Rachel and Artie hung behind awkwardly, clearly not as close to Kurt as Tina.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she said warmly, pulling out from the hug to look at him, "we heard what happened in Salem Town – here," she dug through the bag slung over her shoulder and pulled out a deck of cards, "it wasn't hard finding those assholes, everything's there."

Startled, Kurt sifted through the cards. "Thank you," he murmured, "you shouldn't have…"

"We're just looking out for you," Tina said kindly, "it's not easy being a solo player – "

"They just caught me off guard," Kurt mumbled sheepishly, he opened his menu and selected a database that originally held his personal items before they'd been stolen, hovering the cards over the open window they vanished and organized themselves in the database. It was the safest place to store items, but not the best for fast access which was why most people liked to just carry around the cards in a locked compartment like a bag or the common card holder that fit well in belts. Now with his cards returned to him, Kurt placed a new lock on the database and closed his menu.

"What if you're 'caught off guard' again?" Tina asked with a hardness to her voice, "Kurt – "

"No," he frowned at his friend, "I'm never doing this again, I'm not joining anymore guilds." He softened at the hurt look on her face, "I'm sorry, Tina, I just can't."

"We need more people," Rachel piped up, "We're all beta players here, we can help each other," Kurt threw her an annoyed look and she pursed her lips in indignantly, "look, I've been to ninety nine, I can be of great help to you."

"You've what?" Kurt's face scrunched in confusion, "I don't remember you there," he turned to Tina for an answer, but she shrugged, having gone through this before.

"1800's London?" she said with a hand to her hip while Rachel nodded eagerly behind her. At this Kurt relented that she was telling the truth. "That doesn't matter, what matters is that you almost died, we thought your status would be 'dead' by this morning."

"He saved me," Kurt turned to Finn who jumped in surprise, still on the floor and wondering when he would be introduced into the conversation. The little group had been so into their discussion they'd forgotten all about him.

Tina and Artie shared bewildered looks. Rachel smiled happily at Finn, probably glad that she hadn't been wrong about him yesterday. Feeling uncomfortable from all the stares, Finn stood up and waited for them to say something. But they didn't, they turned back to Kurt expecting him to say it was some kind of joke.

"It's true," he said simply, a blush creeping into his cheeks. "I kind of owe him now actually…" his face brightened up, "he could join you guys!?"

"You're joking right?" Artie said flatly.

"He's got his own gang," Tina shook her head.

"I left them."

"Well join them back – you what?" Tina did a double take, brows raised. Finn supposed it was better than her looking at him like he was something smelly on her feet.

"I left them," Finn repeated, digging his hands in the pockets of his scratchy and stiff pants.

Artie, Tina, and Rachel looked at each other, not quite sure what to say while Kurt smiled brilliantly, knowing there was no way they weren't going to deny Finn now.

…

The other side of Salem was a mirror world that could only be accessed through the great tombstone in the secluded graveyard. While the first Salem carried no missions, or enemies, the other side held an abundance of it. Three people coming through the portal wouldn't be enough to fight off the 'Fear Ghosts' that claimed home to the residents of Salem, that's why it had been bumped up to seven.

Finn looked at the group he'd come into the mirror world with. Apparently after he'd left, Azimio had enough of dallying about and took off with Karofsky, Puck in toe to follow the action. Matt and Mike considered their options and decided they really weren't comfortable going with Azimio and deal with his madness, so they set off too to look for Finn and apologize.

With that the set was complete. They weren't exactly a real guild per se, having just met each other and really only needing to complete the seven people rule, but it finally put Finn at ease. At least with these guys he knew no one was going to pick fights for the hell of it or steal because they were too lazy to earn their items. They fought pretty well together too, something that had been missing from The Pack.

He hoped that from now on this was going to be it. That they wouldn't be splitting up after they were done with Salem.

"We should pick a name for our guild," Rachel said thoughtfully once the crowd of possessed people were defeated.

"Hey, I'm not a part of this," Kurt smiled, earning a pout from Tina, and disappointment from Finn, "I'm still sticking to soloing it out."

"We haven't even agreed this would be permanent," Tina crossed her arms uncertainly, grudgingly admitting to herself that Finn, Matt, and Mike weren't bad fighters, and they'd proven to work well as a team.

"I wouldn't mind, you?" Mike turned to Matt who shook his head in agreement.

"It has to be a name that represents rebirth," Rachel said enthusiastically, happy that she was getting the guild she wanted, "something that defies the whole bully versus bullied nonsense."

"What, you mean like Up Yours Paradise?" Mike asked playfully.

"Actually I was thinking more like – "

"Or ERA Can Suck It," Tina pitched in with a snicker.

"_No,_ meant something like Defying - "

"How about New Directions?" Kurt suggested, "it's simple, sends the message, and looking at you guys," he grinned and arched an eyebrow, "I'd say you're that definition exactly."

"Kurt you're not even a part of this group," Rachel sniffed.

"It sounds kind of cheesy and obvious," Artie commented skeptically, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"Yes, exactly!" Rachel agreed.

"Unoriginal, kind of sloppy, not really flashy," Tina added, "we'll take it."

"What?" the brunette blanched, "no! I have so many ideas for a good name!"

"Yeah, I like New Directions," Mike nodded to himself. Rachel looked around desperately, hoping to find someone to take her side, but they were already leaving the graveyard. Finn threw her an apologetic look and followed Mike and Matt with the others.

Kurt trailed behind trying not to laugh, Rachel accompanying him in defeat.

"I don't like you," she stated simply, though no vice lay in her voice.

"Oh, Barbara," he sighed dramatically, "the feeling's mutual."

Finn couldn't fight the smile that pulled at his lips. He didn't really know these people, but things were starting to look up. He finally had a real team to finish the game. The loss of his best friend, Puck still ached, but with time he was sure the tanned boy would come around and find him. He may not have been able to convince Kurt to join either, but that didn't stop the hope that one day he would. It wasn't lost on him that it was strange that he wanted him a part of the guild so badly, but he stubbornly ignored it. Kurt was the best player in ERA, and yet there was just something about him that made Finn feel like he needed to watch out for him. There was a glimmer of loneliness and pain in Kurt's eyes that he wanted to take away. He wasn't gay or anything, it was his shame that was driving him to make amends to the solo player.

All that happiness and determination would be wiped out a few weeks later.

In that time he would find Quinn Fabray and learn that in nine months he was going to be a father.

…


	3. Visits, Waiting, and Sparring

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

**A/N:** double updating because I finally got a laptop and I'm using every minute I can squeeze into writing :P also, I apologize for not making it clear before but yes this will be a slashy **Kinn** fic and because I fail at writing bottom!Kurt (I tried, and I basically skimmed over it, IDEK man) this will be **bottom!Finn** cuz apparently that's my kink and I love **top!Kurt** (shrug) What's basically happening is I'm brushing over how things would have gone throughout the seasons if ERA existed. I won't cover every little detail (that'd be boring), just the big moments which will end up more as a background thing so if anyone's worried this'll be a Beth!fic, don't worry, it won't last long :)

I hope I didn't scare you guys off with this!

…

Chapter Three

Visits, Waiting, and Sparring

…

Stage 14

France

3 Months into ERA

Walking through a forest knee deep in snow was not Kurt's idea of a fun day, but then, neither was yesterday or the day before that. Tomorrow wouldn't be any better, and he wasn't looking forward to the day after. The point was, he hated Stage 14, and if he ever beat the game, he was going to seriously reconsider any future plans of vacationing in France.

Italy was a better choice. Italy had gelato and delicious Sicilian boys.

Setting his jaw, the solo player gripped his rifle and scanned his surroundings for any other unfortunates like him. For the most part, there was only the brief glimpse of wildlife that chose not to hibernate for the season. He wasn't particularly hungry, and he had enough meal cards to last him a few days.

A bitter wind blew straight through the thick cloth of his uniform, shaking him to the bone. With a tired sigh, he pulled out a pocket watch from his belt and flicked it open. There were easier ways to have a map, but this was at a cheap price and matched perfectly with his clothes. Plus it also contained a detection device for nearby Spoilers, players who killed other players.

In the beta test such players were considered cheaters, or friends just messing around for a laugh. Kurt had even taken part in such shenanigans with the friends he made in the test.

It wasn't like that anymore though. Spoilers were no longer silly gamers. They were murderers.

Kurt had thought with the changed circumstances of the game, people would value their lives in ERA just as they did in reality. For most this was true, but there were others who were just too desperate to leave the game. People who let paranoia lead their decisions, and those who questioned the validity of death in ERA being true in reality. These were the people Kurt had come to be cautious of.

The map in the pocket watch was unlike the automatic maps added to players' menus. This map detected secret bonus prizes, the location of weapons, boss rooms, and the identity and information of every player in ERA. It was really more like an invasion of privacy - a facebook without the privacy settings which Kurt wasn't too fond of, so he used the information only when absolutely necessary. Right now the dots scattered around France told him an impressive number of guilds had reached the country, New Directions included.

Raising his eyebrows at an approaching blue dot, Kurt closed the pocket watch and waited patiently by a nearby tree. Not a minute later a girl in an old fashioned nurse gown passed by and nearly missed him if he hadn't said aloud, "What have I told you about those earrings?"

The girl whipped around in surprise and broke into a brilliant smile, wrapping her arms around his small frame in a tight hug that threatened to break his spine. "Oh my god! Kurt! You're here! You're alive!"

"Yes. I am!" he grunted, peeling himself away from his friend, "all you have to do is check my status, 'Cedes," he grinned broadly, "Now," he reached up to the large ringlet earrings glinting from Mercedes's ears and tapped on the jewels dangling from the bottom like nipples, In a flash they transformed to simple pearl earrings that contrasted beautifully against her dark complexion, "there, much better."

Aghast, Mercedes felt around for her transformed earrings and rolled her eyes. She would never figure out how Kurt was able to do that. "Check your status?" she repeated derisively, "You know how I feel about that."

Kurt gave her an apologetic look. A few weeks ago while on stage thirteen a glitch occurred throughout the entire stage involving the menu's of all players. The occurrence was never explained, but in the twelve hours of which the glitch was happening, the statuses of all players had malfunctioned. Even worse, no one knew about it and believed the statuses to be true. In Kurt's case, everyone thought he was dead when in reality he was in stage twenty four trying to figure out a puzzle in a bonus room. When the statuses rebooted after fixing the glitch, he was bombarded by messages from the New Directions and other players he'd also come to consider friends.

If he ever doubted his significance in the lives of others, the reunion blew it all away.

It was also why he was walking through a wintery forest in search of his friends. He didn't want them to go through another scare like that again. If he were to die in the game, he wanted to at least be with those closest to him as much as possible.

While, of course, burning through the stages on his own as well. It didn't help much for quality time, but it was the best he could do.

"The glitch is gone," Kurt reminded Mercedes, linking their arms and walking through the forest together, "Artie placed backups on our menus so it would reboot faster if another glitch occurred, remember?"

"It's not another glitch I'm worried about, honey," Mercedes said quietly, "it's the fact that the next time it happens it's _not_ a glitch." She held Kurt closer, "but I'm glad you're here. Finn sent me out to look for you, actually."

"Finn?" Kurt immediately blushed as the name fell from his mouth; they broke through the forest into a small campsite that could have easily been mistaken for a village. No one was outside in such bad weather, but there were telltale signs amongst the well built tents of which guild was which. The pair approached a large tent with a symbol over the door flaps. It was a simple design of one line lying horizontal and two lines approaching each other at the center of the first line representing a road. A curve with dots lining the outside represented the sun. It was cheesy; like every other crest in ERA, but it sent the message that it belonged to the New Directions.

"Yeah. Finn," Mercedes grinned, "unlike me, I hear he's been checking your status since day one."

Kurt's eyes widened, he couldn't have turned redder if he wanted to. "Really?"

"Yeah, but don't take my word for it," his friend warned, "I just heard it over an argument he had with Quinn, and you know how crazy paranoid she can get."

Kurt's eyes darkened. He had almost forgotten. They stood in front of the tent, neither the first to go in, "How is she?"

Mercedes summed it up in one word. "Bitchy."

He threw her a dry grin and steeled himself for what he would see on the other side. Giving him a comforting smile, Mercedes pulled back the flap and let him go inside first.

…

The truth of Quinn's condition was revealed a few days after she'd been admitted to the hospital. Her parents weren't pleased, but since she was in a coma with the game, their anger over her irresponsibility paled in comparison to wanting their daughter back. All the same, Carole kept a safe distance from the frustrated parents and found better company with Burt Hummel.

It made for awkward moments, though, when the need to sit by her son struck. Quinn had been moved next to his bed, after all. With Burt by her side, it helped to ignore the accusing glares the Fabray's sent her.

Today for instance. Like everyone else, they'd been religiously watching the footage of their children. They had survived so far, which gave them some hope, but it was the interactions they were worried about. For the past four stages, Carole was able to figure out that Finn and his friends had formed some kind of group with other players. They'd proven to work well together in battle and mini missions, but they were obviously having trouble getting along.

From the body language of Quinn, Carole wasn't too hot on the idea of having her as a daughter in law. Pregnant or not, she wasn't treating her teammates with the respect they deserved. Finn, it seemed, was facing the brunt of her verbal attacks and that didn't give her any points from Carole. Especially since it was obvious that her son was trying to give her as much comfort as possible.

The brunette was making her feel a little nervous as well. She seemed nice, but she recognized that star struck look in her eyes. She had them herself when she was that age. Would Finn cheat on Quinn with her? Carole wondered.

To be honest, she wasn't sure if she was totally against the idea.

The worn out mother let out a sigh and looked away from the screen. Once again Finn and Quinn got in a fight. Like every other time they parted ways. Her to her friends to vent, and he to the solitary confines of his room where he would spend hours tinkering through his menu. Carole never figured out what exactly he was doing, all she could see was footage from a birds' eye view, not a personal view of every little thing Finn experienced.

She took his limp hand and shut her eyes. Only fourteen stages had been cleared. How much more would it take before Finn would wake?

…

_"Recognized. Kurt Hummel S 1. Mercedes Jones. G ND – 08."_

Kurt arched an eyebrow at the robotic welcoming. A security measure for all dwellings, but most commonly for Houses. Tent's wouldn't need such things, which meant that this wasn't a tent at all.

The interior of the 'tent' was much bigger than the outside gave the impression. On the inside it looked like a regular house built for a large family. Kurt entered the welcoming living room, gazing around the familiar homely decorations and halls that led to other rooms. Out of curiosity, he looked out a nearby window, but was not greeted by the snow covered campsite. Instead he found himself viewing the rustic streets of Italy in the prime of spring. Judging by the iconic canals lining the city, Kurt guessed they were in Venice.

The explanation came to him immediately. "HPT? You guys finally got the money for it?" HPT referred to Home Portal Transportation. It was very expensive and only available to those who owned a house, but it made traveling easier between different stages than using the crowded public portals dotted over every stage. Like every transport though, players could only travel back to previous floors they completed, not jump forward to the next stage they hadn't conquered. Mercedes nodded eagerly at Kurt's question and started plugging in numbers on the security pad next to the door they came from. The next second the view changed to the familiar sunny town of Harvest Land.

"We're a bit short on money," she admitted with a shrug, "but it's worth it, and the mini missions have helped us make up for what we spent."

"That's – " he cut off with a grunt of surprise when he found himself once again in the arms of a friend. A flash of streaked blue hair and he relaxed in Tina's embrace, "hi!" he laughed.

"Hey, Kurt's here!" someone far away shouted. Tina pulled away with a bright smile and walked him to a sofa. Not seconds later there came the rumbling and shouts of joy of more people rushing into the living room. By the time Kurt settled down with his two friends, the rest of the guild was crowding around him, all eager to tell a story or hear one.

It was a reaction Kurt had tried not to get used to. A consequence of the glitch was that whenever he visited, the guild would turn into a bunch of three year olds eager to see their cool older brother. Kurt was never in the spot to be admired or missed so much, and constantly told himself that with time the excitable greeting would wear off and things would go back to normal.

Then again, he had to admit, part of the reason he got such a huge greeting was because some of the members were in the guild because of him. He wasn't sure why, but they looked up to him like some kind of mentor.

Well. Except Rachel. But Rachel was Rachel, so he didn't care.

The group stepped back and settled down around the living room. "So where are you at now?" Artie asked.

"Twenty," Kurt said easily, "It's a little behind the front lines, but I'm getting there."

"Yeah, those guys are at…what stage? Forty?" Santana looked to her best friend Brittany for confirmation, but she was busy playing with her familiar, a chubby tom by the name of Mr. Tubbington 2.0. It was too long of a name, so everyone called him Tubby.

"Thirty, actually," Kurt corrected. "They're plowing through, but casualties are too great…"

"They don't have enough guilds helping out," Mike spoke up from beside Brittany, "have you tried contacting them? If they wait, we could make it to Thirty and help out."

"They're kind of stubborn," Kurt said apologetically. "And it would take too long, most of them are beta's."

"Beta or not, we can still help if they wait for more guilds," Rachel spoke up. Kurt looked up at her. He hadn't seen the group in a few weeks, but they had shown improvement in their skills, and had slowly started to care less of whether they looked good in their attire, and more of what could protect them best. Right now they were home, so they were in their casuals, but Rachel still insisted on dressing up as she did in reality – or at least a close replica of it given that nothing in ERA was very modern, and Kurt never revealed how he got his hands on a pair of jeans those many stages ago. It was both good that she hadn't let the game change who she was, and a bit disconcerting that she spent her money on her tastes rather than safety. Kurt spied no protective jewelry on her.

"Nice to see you, too," he said instead. The brunette arched an eyebrow at him, but eventually smiled.

"Always a pleasure," she grinned cheekily.

"So, since you're here, I'm assuming you're going to help us with the boss?" Artie asked hopefully.

Kurt blinked at the bespectacled boy, "no I came to give you all fashion tips."

"Hey, Kurt!" Brittany suddenly spoke up startling a few of her guild, "have you met any dolphins?"

His brows knitted, "dolphins?" the blonde nodded eagerly, "you do mean the aquatic mammal, right?"

Before Brittany could explain, the last person entered the room. Kurt fought to control the flush creeping up his face at the sight of the tall boy. The others didn't notice his change, being successfully distracted by Artie pulling up a hologram from his handbook to talk about the boss. Kurt pushed past basking in the sight of Finn to notice that he seemed troubled.

Sneaking past the group, Kurt inched over to the other boy. "Hi," he said simply in a low voice so no one would hear.

Finn shook his head from his thoughts, "oh, uh. Hi. Mercedes found you?"

"Yes," Kurt replied, neglecting to add that Finn was the reason she was out in the cold in the first place. "How've you been? Quinn seems to be doing okay."

"I…yeah, I guess," Finn mumbled, looking over to the blonde girl who pointedly kept her back to him. "We kind of had a fight. Or…I don't know…"

"Well, she's pregnant," Kurt shrugged, noting the slight bump on the girl's belly. She was only three months, but she was starting to show. At least to him. To anyone else she just looked like she put on a few pounds. "She's bound to get a bit emotional."

"Yeah but…" Finn frowned, crossing his arms, "never mind."

Kurt eyed him curiously. There seemed to be a lot he wanted to say, but didn't know how to say it. If he went by what Mercedes told him, this wasn't the first fight Finn had with his girlfriend. He wondered if this was normal for a pregnant girl. He tried to picture himself in Quinn's place, scared and alone. Too young to care for a child, much less in a video game where they didn't really have any adults to help them out.

Would the child even exist in the game? He wondered. It existed now because it was a part of Quinn's body, but once she gave birth in reality, that child wouldn't have any of the tech all players needed to be in ERA. No one would know if it survived. Quinn didn't seem to have any attachment to her unborn child, but maybe that was all a lie or an attempt not to get too attached. Maybe she was terrified over the fate of her baby. And of herself.

Labor was an exhausting process. Quinn would be in a coma through it. She could die.

Kurt turned to Finn. He spoke to him before over their questions concerning the cheerleader's fate, they knew there was a slim chance of survival. But while Kurt was giving the possibility of death serious consideration, Finn remained optimistic. As always.

"It's been a while since I've seen you fight," Kurt said conversationally, hoping to distract him, "want to go to Harvest Land?"

At this Finn perked up. "I got a staff from thirteen…"

"Good, then we can have a scrimmage," Kurt smiled, already heading for the door. Finn followed behind, trying not to look too eager.

"A what?" Finn blinked.

"A spar. Practice fight?"

"Oh right," he plugged in the numbers, "I knew that." Kurt waited patiently until Finn realized they were already in Stage One. With a sheepish smile, the tall teen opened the door and they slipped out.

"All right, so we've got five guilds up for the job, some of them are magic user's, and with Brittany at the…" Artie looked up from his hologram to the space Kurt had been standing. The other's looked there as well in bemusement, having not noticed his absence either. Sighing, Artie shook his head, "I swear, he's like Batman when he does that."

"Yep, and he took Superman, too," Mercedes snickered, earning a startled look from Rachel.

…

The fields in Harvest Land were just as they had been when they first arrived in ERA. Looking up at the skies, Finn remembered floating amongst the clouds close to a panic attack. It had been months since then, and to still be in such a convincing virtual reality…it was getting harder to remember that there was another world he truly belonged. That this place was all fake. Sometimes he forgot what his mother looked like, or what clothes he used to wear. Shaking his head, he turned to his sparring partner who was busily looking through his menu for the right weapon.

Four stages had passed since the mishap in Salem and aside from the glitch, no harm had come to Kurt. At least none from other players. Kurt still battled simulated enemies, fought alongside other guilds against bosses, but he was never in a place where his health was critically low. Finn made sure to check on him as much as possible.

Back since stage one it was out of curiosity that he looked him up every now and then. He knew him back home even if in bad terms, and he'd shown to be a great fighter. If it was one thing Harvest Land taught him, it was that Kurt Hummel was not the witty frail boy he'd always known. Out of nowhere, he suddenly became an enigma, and someone Finn knew would be an asset to finishing the game. In Era, Finn was weak, and Kurt was strong. He could admit that – he already admitted that. What bothered him was that Kurt staunchly remained in his solo role, and after getting to know the New Directions the more battles they won; the more Finn feared that maybe that was his own fault.

As far as Finn knew, Kurt had no friends in McKinley. That could be why he didn't trust others in a video game where betrayal was child's play. So it was with curiosity and a sense of brotherly worry for his schoolmate that Finn kept tabs on him. Both to make sure he was alive, and to see what amazing stunt he would pull next.

Salem changed that.

Stage 13 changed that.

Finn checked on Kurt every chance he got. It wasn't just a two second checkup every two days. It was becoming a morning, and nightly ritual. Forget seeing what new legend Kurt would make, Finn just needed to see him alive.

Why?

…He wasn't sure.

But it was the subject that he and Quinn had been arguing about. He hadn't even realized it was becoming a problem until Quinn listed off the many times he neglected her until she lost count.

"Aren't you gonna show off you're shiny new weapon?" Kurt teased lightly, having chosen a metal red and black bo-staff for himself. It was a very modern looking weapon, and probably from a stage the New Directions hadn't reached yet. Not wanting to be intimidated, Finn opened his menu and selected the new weapon he earned in stage thirteen.

The previous world was based on medieval legends of magic. It was sort of like Harvest Land, but with more mystique and darkness. It made Finn think heavily of the Lord of the Rings movies. Artie felt right at home and Brittany found her own kind of strength as a magic user, earning herself Mr. Tubbington 2.0.

After the glitch fiasco and several treasure hunts, Finn acquired a wizard's staff. The magic bit was still a little off for him, but it could still be used for physical combat. A quick trip to the nearest weapons expert and some much needed leveling up also helped him modify the staff for better use. The branch-like length with its clawed tip was refined to a smoothened glossy finish that gave off the appearance of a simple pole much like Kurt's, but with a more ancient tone. Finn had already tricked many enemy simulations with its unassuming look.

Kurt gave it a once over with an impressed smirk. Finn was learning.

Without any warning, the solo player shot forward, the taller boy just barely blocking the attack. For the next few minutes or hours – they couldn't tell – the air was filled with the clanking of weaponry, grunts and the whispering crunch of grass getting worn down. Kurt wound his way around Finn's strikes, using his bo-staff as both leverage to get around and it's intended use for battle. All the while Finn did his best to keep up with his spritely movements. Kurt was like a cat, barely making a sound and moving every which way whenever even the slightest space and timing was offered. Compared to him, Finn was a stumbling giant too slow to keep up with the smaller boy's reflexes.

He was fine with that, he supposed. It had been a long time since he'd been with Kurt like this, and that had been when he was still Penny. He never thought he would be sparring with him again though. Like two regular guys up for a round just for the hell of it.

That Kurt wanted to spar with him, an average player to ERA, made Finn's feel warm all over with something he could only describe as joy. It only heightened more at the spark of excitement in Kurt's eyes.

Now if only he could stop embarrassing himself by tripping over his own feet. He knew for sure that Kurt was holding back, so if he couldn't catch up at this point, he might as well kiss reality goodbye. Setting his jaw, Finn dodged another attack and swung his weapon as fast as he could before Kurt had time to dodge. The connection startled the other boy just a brief second before the mage's staff pushed him sideways and into the ground like a ragdoll.

He was about to roll over and get to his feet, but was soon pinned down by Finn straddling his waist and effectively holding him down with the staff. Kurt stared up at his breathless face, glistening with sweat, and triumph gleaming in his eyes. Kurt thought hard of Rachel strutting around naked, heart hammering in his chest not only for the adrenaline of the fight. He swallowed thickly.

Close. They were too close.

"It's good to see you've learned a lot," he managed to say without cracking his voice.

Finn rolled off of Kurt, crashing down next to him. "I still have a lot to go. You haven't even broken a sweat."

Kurt flushed, staring up at the clouds painted in purple and orange. "At the point you're at, you're doing better than fine."

Finn took the compliment and after a few moments of watching the sky darken and catching his breath he finally spoke up. "How come you never fought back in McKinley?"

The question hung in the air, changing the pleasant mood. Kurt let out a puff of air, unconsciously clutching his weapon. "It's not as easy to level up in reality as in ERA."

"But – "

"Because I was only one person and I am not a Neanderthal."

Nothing else was said for a long while, and Kurt was starting to dose off, feeling his message was understood.

"You could have tried."

He opened his eyes, not realizing he'd closed them.

"You're not weak."

It felt strange to hear it from Finn. His father had always told him he was a strong person, and later on Tina told him the same in admiration. But from Finn it felt like a genuine compliment. He felt a sense of unfamiliar pride to both his character and strength as a fighter. Maybe this was what those jocks felt when people drooled over their muscles…

"Thank you," he said softly, a blush softening his face.

Crickets started chirping. In perhaps an hour or so the sky would be speckled with stars.

Smiling to himself, Kurt returned his bo-staff to his menu and settled comfortably against the grass, not minding one bit of the atrocious stains it would leave on his clothes. "So," he said conversationally, "how's life treating you?"


	4. Chicken

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

…

Chapter Four

Chicken

…

Stage 42

Holocaust

8 Months into ERA

Finn fucked up. He _really _fucked up.

There were no other words to explain the damage he'd done other than he freaking _fucked up._ He could remember that day clearly. So clearly it was tattooed to his brain for the rest of his life and would remind him what an asshole he'd been.

A lot of things had been building up to it. Quinn's pregnancy, the increasing dangers of ERA, Rachel trying to get in his pants. _Kurt_ trying to get in his pants. The awareness that every day he could _die. _Hell, they almost lost Brittany back on stage twenty nine!

Not to mention, his best friend – the guy he'd been friends with practically since _birth_ had slept with his girlfriend. A little over eight months ago. As in, Finn was not the father to their unborn child.

And. Fuck. Life just _sucked!_

He flipped out, understandably. Puck had joined them three months ago after hopscotching around other guilds. It was how he'd been surviving, though he got his ass handed to him when he made the poor choice of joining a guild full of Spoilers. Finn found him half dead and made him join New Directions for his own safety and things had been going well since then. Except Quinn snapped more, and everything he did to comfort her was never enough.

On top of the embarrassment of having his girlfriend belittle him in front of his comrades, it was humiliating to learn that they all knew the truth behind her pregnancy and hadn't said a word. He had to learn it from Rachel, the only other person who was last find out, and only because everyone kept it from her as much as from him since they knew she was going to blab to him about it. Which she did.

He was torn between wanting to break something or crawl into a hole and never come out. First thing he did though, was sock Puck in the eye and then some until someone had to pull them apart. It didn't make him feel any better that Puck didn't fight back, nor the pained look in his eyes that screamed guilt and pity. Finn didn't want to be pitied. He hated all this pity crap. Hated it when everyone else started looking at him that way, as if he were too pathetic to do anything else but scream and cry and kick things.

So he left.

He left and…he was once again aimlessly wandering around for something to do.

Rachel followed him a couple of times. Tried to get him back, but he couldn't do it. Not with everyone falling silent whenever he walked in a room. He was miserable, and right then he didn't care if he died in a stupid virtual reality game, he just wanted to stop hurting.

Then Kurt ran into him a few times as well, just as quiet and sympathetic as all the others. It pissed Finn off that the other boy knew the truth too. He wasn't even a part of New Directions and he _still_ knew. Hadn't said _anything_. It was too cruel. Made him so angry.

And he started shouting and crying, his hands itching to break something, mostly himself because damnit he really was going to take care of that kid! He was so prepared to be the best father in the world! Make up for the dad he lost when he was a baby. He was ready!

Why was this happening to him!?

Why did he have to get the short end of the stick? Quinn was _his_. Puck was supposed to be his _best friend!_ How could they do this to him!?

Kurt tried to calm him. Tried to hug him, and get him to stop shaking, but he couldn't. He was too angry and he rounded on to the solo player. He needed to feel better about himself so he spouted off so many awful things. Told him he knew about his stupid crush. The way Kurt looked at him when he thought he wasn't looking. Called him…called him so many terrible _names_ and how he could never feel the same way because it was…

He wasn't sure what he said after, but he could remember the tears in Kurt's eyes. The same anger and sorrow he'd been feeling reflected in the smaller boy. He thought he was past this. Past hurting him because there were bigger things to worry about. He could feel himself deflate in shame, too speechless to even squeeze out an apology.

In the end Kurt's anger won out, and Finn was left sitting on the ground with his eye throbbing in pain. If it had been reality, he doubted such a punch would have the kind of strength it had in ERA. All the same it hurt.

He felt like the worst human being on the planet.

Finn was about ready to jump off a building when he bumped into Tina on stage forty-two. He wasn't sure how, but he managed to push through two stages by friending other guilds and joining boss fights. To his guilt, it was his sparring with Kurt that kept him alive. Once he got in forty-two he barely had time to take in his surroundings before the Nazi's captured him and threw him in one of their prison camps. Just his luck, he ended up in Auschwitz.

There were a few other players imprisoned, and he learned the challenge of this was to escape under the disguise as a Nazi official, then continue to another town in order to find refuge and take on Hitler. He was in the middle of winning the clothes needed to escape through mini games when he came across Tina. She was already in her well earned Nazi uniform, and Did Not look impressed with his prison attire.

"You look like shit," was the first thing she said, a leather gloved hand to her hip and an eyebrow arched. If Finn had any of that anger left he would have glared at her, but he was too miserable so he just shrugged. The Asian girl sighed and dropped the act, awkwardly giving him a hug that he hadn't expected given his recent behavior. He hugged back anyway. Hugs were something he'd been needing for a long time

"Where've you been?" Tina asked when they pulled back, her normally cold eyes warm and worried. She never looked at him like this when Finn was in New Directions. She was too shy to look anyone in the eye in the real world, but in ERA she gave off the air of a badass ice queen. Not as cool and detached as Quinn, but enough to get people to see that she was someone not to be messed with. She was particularly cold to Finn because of his treatment of Kurt at McKinley.

He'd been expecting another fist to the face once Tina found out what he did to him.

"Around," he answered her, looking away, pretending to look interested in other prisoner players walking around. "How is…how's everybody?" He bit his tongue. He really wanted to know how Quinn was doing, but was too afraid to ask.

"We scraped past forty one, no casualties. Everyone else is already at the next town. I noticed you just got here and figured I'd pay you a visit," she shrugged, "Quinn's…well. She's doing okay. Much better now that the truth's out." She softened as Finn's shoulders sagged, "everyone misses you. Kurt hasn't come by as much either."

"I uh…" he shut his mouth grimly. "How is he?"

"Same," she said simply, the gold and silver metals on her cap glinting as she nodded. "We've been sparring. He says he's in stage forty six, but we all know he's – "

"Stage fifty one, yeah," he mumbled, not as embarrassed as he once thought he would be at knowing this. His habit of checking up on Kurt had transformed again into checking his other statuses once he got his hands on a pocket watch. Right now he was at level 78 with his cooking and hunting skills maxed out. Last he checked he was on stage thirty helping out a guild called the Warblers. He'd been hanging around them quite often. More than New Directions.

Tina shook her head, the disappointment clear in her eyes. "Finn, you really fucked up."

He didn't need to be reminded.

Crap. Did Kurt tell her?

"I saw it happen," she answered the panic in his face. "Didn't tell anyone, he didn't either." She crossed her arms, the uniform was tight fitting and pushed her bust up, especially with the boost from her arms, yet Finn couldn't find himself to be distracted. "You two need to talk."

He almost scoffed at the suggestion. Of course they needed to talk. He owed Kurt an apology and maybe of month of slavery. Shit, he was even thinking of running to him in a dress and grovel at his feet for forgiveness!

But he _couldn't_. He was too scared and ashamed to face him again.

Tina let out a puff of air, blowing at a curl of hair that escaped her cap and drifted in her eyesight. "I've been wanting to apologize. To you. About the baby thing," she said uncomfortably. "We all knew, but we didn't want to hurt you, and we know we hurt you more for not saying anything. So… Sorry. _I'm_ sorry."

Finn nodded, staring at the rock and dirt at their feet. Her boots stood far apart and ready for a fight. He remembered how tiny she used to be at school. All dressed in black and with this look on her face as if she were caught between wanting to be invisible and wanting someone to notice her. He was glad she was this tough person in ERA, otherwise she would have been dead months ago.

It reminded him how much more of a gamer she was compared to him.

Just like Kurt was a better fighter than him.

"We want you to come back," she spoke up again, her voice soft and sincere. "You're not Kurt, no one's like Kurt, you need a guild to get through this game. Friending other guilds is not going to help you through much. Look what almost happened to Puck." She winced regrettably at mentioning the other boy, and Finn's face darkened. "Okay forget Puck. But this place is running with Spoilers. If a boss doesn't kill you a Spoiler will, and then what? What about your mother?"

Finn bit his lip. A day never went by without thinking of his mother. He was forgetting how she looked like now. Her boisterous laugh a tiny echo in his head. He needed her badly since learning the truth behind Quinn's pregnancy.

He blinked several times. He couldn't think of Quinn. Thinking of her made him cry and he was tired of crying. Tired of hurting.

"I can't go back," he said heavily, "I can't…I can't see her I'll just get angry again and…I can't…"

"Baby steps," Tina suggested, "I apologized and now I feel a little better about myself. Now you need to find Kurt and do the same…" she paused thoughtfully, "soon as we find him."

"He's in thirty," Finn answered thoughtlessly, "helping out the Warblers." Tina shut her mouth, surprised and he flushed. "What?"

"Nothing," she was trying to hide a smile, but failed spectacularly. "Thirty huh?"

"Well…yeah," he crossed his arms too, fighting off a pout and not getting the teasing note in her voice. "But what if he doesn't want to see me? He hasn't made any effort to find me, so why should I?"

"Why the hell would he want to go looking for the guy he'd been crushing on forever just to hear him call him a fag again?" Tina said slowly, her brows raised.

Finn flushed, his defense crashing for the shame that returned in full force. "I…good point…"

"Maybe he'll understand," she said hopefully, sympathetic again, "he caught you at a bad place and you had a foot in mouth moment. You always do."

"Still…"

"Okay you were an asshole, nobody's perfect," she rolled her eyes, "Point is, you admit it and now you're going to make things right like the good little boy scout you are." She walked past him and waved at him to follow. He reluctantly trailed after her to the public portal where few players were coming in and out. It was a cabin at the far corner of the camp, and was indicated as a portal by the bright green door that stood out against the brown and gray of stage forty two's atmosphere.

Finn watched Tina as they entered the cabin and stood on the platform that took up the center of the wide room. "Why are you doing this for me?" he asked wonderingly, "I kind of thought you hated me."

"I do," she nodded dismissively, "sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

She gave him a sideways glance and grinned, "if it's a choice between you or Quinn, I think everyone would choose you…well, except for Mercedes. 'Cause, you know, you fucked up with Kurt, and she's gotten close to Quinn." She shook her head, casually slipping her hands in her pockets, and staring ahead distantly. "More importantly, we need to stick together. I never got as far in the beta test as Kurt, but things are only going to get harder and stuff like stress and betrayals are going to happen. It will pull us apart and in the end that's what's going to kill us." She looked up at him, the height difference so big that she really had to crane her neck. She looked like a child next to her and it almost horrified Finn how fragile she really was.

Almost.

She was still a badass.

"I don't want to die here, Finn," she said with a quiet hardness that showed how strong yet vulnerable she was right now, "but if we do, I'd rather it not be alone somewhere because I was too humiliated to face my friends again. New Directions is our family now. Family sticks together."

The screen of the portal popped up in front of them with a holographic keyboard to input their destination, Tina patched in the number and took Finn's hand.

"How do you know Kurt so well?" he asked curiously as the platform glowed. "He never explained it to me, and…" well, she never told him either because they rarely ever talked unless it dealt with insults or battle strategies.

Tina shrugged tightly. "He uh…helped me out of a scratch in the beta test."

Finn raised an eyebrow, the portal commenced countdown to stage thirty, "what kind of scratch?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I poked a sleeping dragon in the eye. Literally."

His eyes popped open at the mention of dragon. Some of the mystical stages he'd been to had them, and they were not very friendly creatures. Their main role in each stage was to guard a special item like armor or magical swords. He never braved taking them on. Not even with a guild because they were huge as a motherfucker and faster than he could think. A total of fifty people died trying to get whatever item they were after. It was becoming a general consensus to all players to just leave the dragons alone. Whatever item they were guarding, it just wasn't worth it.

And Tina poked one of them in the fucking _eye!_

_"Leaving Stage 42 Holocaust."_ The portal announced in a computerized feminine voice.

Finn stole a glance at Tina, trying to gauge whether what she said was a lie or not.

"You're nuts," he said flatly. Tina bowed her head in acknowledgement.

…

Burt Hummel was a very kind man, Carole concluded. Ever since Finn saved Kurt from dying, they had been meeting up more and more around the hospital. Waiting by their son's side was getting painful, and watching over the video recordings of their progress was frying their nerves so they chose to take breaks and eat at the cafeteria to get their minds off the slim chances their children had in coming out of the game alive.

Hospital food was not the most delicious thing in the world, so they made a habit of bringing their own food. Carole had noticed an unhealthy amount of grease in Burt's meals and insisted he check his pressure out of motherly worry.

They found out he was in danger of getting a heart attack.

It helped keep her mind off Finn's fate by making healthier meals for Burt. He was reluctant, and despite his gruff persona and truck driver attire, he was gentleman enough to not reject her food.

It had been a long time since Carole had to cook for another man. There was Finn, but he was her son, it was only natural. Burt was…

Different.

"Looks like our kids haven't made up yet," he grunted, eating his last forkful of salad. Beside him, Carole nodded, staring at her half eaten lunch. They had been together when they saw the obvious blow up that was occurring between Finn and Kurt. They couldn't hear what the fight was about, but they could see the boys were both upset, and her son had another typical foot in mouth moment by saying something that drove the other boy away.

She felt the need to apologize for her son's actions.

"What do you think it was about?" Burt asked lightly. Staring at his empty tupperware. Carole shrugged and shook her head. "That girlfriend of Finn's. She's really showing now, so he's obviously stressed about the pregnancy. And then he fought with his other friend, Puck? Was it?"

"Yes," she nodded, recalling at recording too, "I asked the doctors to take a blood test on Quinn's baby once it's born, I have a feeling the fight was about that. He seemed angry at her too…" Very angry. And hurt. "But Finn's not always like this," she was quick to say. "He's normally a really gentle boy. He would never – "

"I know," Burt nodded soberly. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, "You know, when Kurt was just a toddler we asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said," he cracked a grin, "he wanted a decent pair of heels." Carole blinked, then smiled fondly, a giggle escaping her. "That's when I knew he was…well…gay," he shrugged. "He hasn't come out to me yet. I'm waiting for him to feel ready. I used to be one of those kids…" he eyes darkened, haunted and regretful, "I'd pick on others who were different. Do stupid things…I'm not that person anymore. But when I found out Kurt was the same as those kids I'd push around…it got me." He fell silent, taking a moment to collect himself. "But he was my son, and I loved him too much to feel any hate for him." Carole listened intently, imagining the shock Burt felt when he first discovered Kurt was never the son he pictured him to be. "I thought…maybe in this new generation people were aware and smart enough to accept him. That he wouldn't have to deal with all that crap about fearing for his life just because of who he was…"

Carole bit the inside of her cheek. She wondered how things would have turn out of Finn were in Kurt's shoes. He was so tall and muscular that she knew he could handle himself in a fight. But he had always been sensitive to words, and that alone would have crushed him. According to Burt's anecdotes of his own son, Kurt was the opposite.

Even still. Words had a bite to them that fists could never drive deep enough.

"Is that why he started playing ERA?" she asked quietly. "To get away for a few hours?"

Burt nodded stiffly, his baseball cap hiding his eyes.

Carole clasped her hands over her lap. "I'm sorry."

…

Stage 30

Edo

They found themselves standing in a small shack that was spacious and geometrical with rectangular floor matting and a single portrait of a cherry blossom tree. In front of them was a sliding door that lead to the porch of a beautiful yard that housed a pond, friendly little creatures, and a landscape of a village with curled roofs and blue skies. Out of default, the stage changed the player's attire to fit with the atmosphere. Now in thick layers of fabrics and protective plates, Finn and Tina were samurai.

Originally, since her fighting stats weren't quite up to par at the time like Finn's, Tina had been given the role geisha which incensed her into taking up as many challenges as possible to take the samurai mantle instead. Santana hadn't missed a single chance in teasing her about that, what with Tina being so tough and all. Then after Tina became a samurai, she started calling her Mulan with as much snark as possible.

"Okay, stage thirty," Tina said, stepping out of the platform and out of the shack, a hand resting over the two katana tied to the hip which she earned in a challenge that ultimately changed her role. "Now where to?"

Finn pulled out his pocket watch and flicked around the holographic map for Kurt's location. Tina watched with interest as he breezily brushed past dots of other players. For the briefest second he thought he saw Kurt's name right by Nagasaki, but it vanished before he could be entirely sure. Scowling, he turned the map at a different angle and searched again, even putting Kurt's name in the search engine.

Nothing popped up.

_'Maybe he went somewhere else,'_ he thought as he switched his map to all stages and searched again. Nothing popped up, so he went to the easier – and probably more invasive – route. He pulled up Kurt's profile and went to his stats.

The picture was there, along with a green dot to inform him that he was still active. But the rest of his information was blank.

"He blocked me," he murmured in surprise. He turned to Tina, still baffled, and she shook her head in disappointment.

"Great," she crossed her arms sullenly. "He's being a chicken." And after a beat. "You got a pocket watch? Really?"

"What?" he shut the device and pocketed it. "It's been really useful."

"How much more stalkerish can you be?" she shook her head again, the bob on her head swaying slightly, "that's so creepy…"

"What!?" he flushed. "Stalking…what the hell makes you think I'm being a stalker?"

"'Kurt's on stage thirty,'" she smacked her hands together and raised her voice to a childish pitch. She looked very silly doing it in the solemn samurai attire. "'Helping out the _Warblers!'_ You do realize that's the main reason Quinn was pissed at you, right?" She corrected herself right after, "aside from being psycho preggers."

He felt his face burn, the mention of Quinn's name doing nothing to quell his embarrassment. "I've just been keeping an eye on him, I was worried after we fought so I…was making sure he didn't do anything stupid."

Tina gave him the dullest look to end all dull looks. "Uh-huh, then how do you explain all those other times you've been checking up on him."

"He's a solo player," was the prompt answer that didn't convince her at all. "I was worried all right? I've been worried ever since the glitch. And that time he almost died at Salem." He was still wondering who those attackers were, actually.

"Pocket watches have been banned since two months ago, Finn," Tina said seriously, "there've been cases of owners using them to find targets. Half of them are sicko's obsessed with whoever it is they're hooked on. You've heard of Sebastian Smythe right?"

Finn didn't reply. Everyone knew about Sebastian Smythe. He was a previous member of the Saint's Eve guild, and an insatiable flirt who unwittingly got a stalker because of it. The guy used a pocket watch to observe his stats for weeks before pinning him alone in a secluded alley back at stage twenty six. He cornered him and raped him on the spot. The scandal would have gone unnoticed if Blaine Anderson hadn't found him and brought to attention the dangers of pocket watches. They were especially dangerous because privacy stats and locations were not in the player's power to control.

People began to forbid the use of the device, and only allowed players to have them after the addition of 'blocking' was included. Pocket watches were viewed as a dangerous item and players often looked down on those who owned them. The main owners were Spoilers, so that was also a telltale sign to keep away from players who had pocket watches.

"I never saw you looking up Puck's name when you joined New Directions," Tina said quietly. "What's the big deal about Kurt?"

The platform behind him lit up, indicating the arrival of other players. Not wanting to be overheard, or judged, Finn walked away from the shack to a quiet road that would lead into a modest village. Tina followed quickly by his side.

"When I first got in ERA I met Kurt, but he was a girl and he called himself Penny," he explained, the image of the beautiful girl surfacing in his head. "We got along really well and I thought if I wasn't with Quinn, she would totally be an awesome girlfriend. Well…_he_. I didn't know she was a he until the whole Paradise thing."

"You have a crush on Kurt?" Tina raised an eyebrow, lips curling in amusement.

"No!" he exclaimed a little too loudly, "It was just…when I found out it was Kurt I realized how…how he'd rather be a different person than himself and how crappy it was of me the way I treated him at school. As Penny he was really cool – "

"And cute."

"And cute – stop that!" he flushed. Tina smirked. "Anyway, I felt bad. So when I found out he was a good fighter, I thought he and I could form a guild and get the game over with. I got worried when he said he was soloing it out so I started…checking up on him. You know, make sure he's okay?"

"You have a crush on him," she deadpanned.

"No I don't!" he threw his hands up.

"Don't deny it."

"I'm not gay!"

"_Stalker!_" she sang with a grin.

He glared at her, but she didn't let up so he slumped his shoulders and gave up on her. "I'm not a stalker," he couldn't help grumbling.

The continued walking in silence. The village they entered was alive with players and simulations shopping and dining. A few kids who made it this far were scampering around with paper kites and handmade toys. It always depressed Finn to see children in the game. The higher the stage, the less there were.

"You know it's okay right?" Tina finally spoke up as they entered the market area. It was bustling with noise and Finn almost didn't hear her. He turned to her curiously, and she had this sad look in her eyes, completely foreign to the Tina he knew in ERA, but a nostalgic echo of the quiet girl he'd pass by at McKinley. "It's okay to like Kurt."

"I'm not – "

"Do you think anyone here cares about who's gay or not?"

He fell silent. He hadn't really put much thought into it until Kurt came to him that day to get him back to New Directions. That had all basically been a knee jerk reaction from the homophobic monster swimming inside him.

Almost as if to prove Tina's point he spotted two male players standing by a vegetable booth, hand in hand and very comfortably close. The same behavior had increased the higher the stages got because by that time players just didn't give a shit anymore. They wanted to go home, and if they weren't going to make it, they weren't going to die without being honest with themselves. Ignorance was thinning out the more time passed.

"Do you think Kurt's respected because he's a gay solo player?" Tina asked, making Finn feel like crap again. "No. He's respected because he's the strongest most selfless player in ERA." She threw him a pitying smile, "I'm not accusing you of being gay. Kurt's awesome. Having a crush on him is…well, it's expected. Even from you."

…

A week had passed ever since they arrived at Edo. They had gone from Nagasaki all the way to Osaka without any clue to where Kurt had gone and a growing irritation of portals and the nausea that came with constantly using them to hop a few miles. The only indication they had that he was still in stage thirty was his status on the public profiles. Beyond that, they had no idea where exactly he was, and Edo was a huge stage to look through.

Right now Finn and Tina were staying at an inn, trying to hash out a plan. They removed the plates and a few layers from their uniforms, tired of lugging them around, especially in the privacy of their room. A map was laid out between them on the table with several X's dotting almost half of Japan.

"Maybe we're missing him every time we move to the next town," Finn murmured, frowning over the X's. In front of him Tina put her hands on her hips, grumbling to herself. "What?"

"I said if he weren't such a little bitch we'd have found him by now and we'd be preparing to move on to forty three," she pouted. "You know he's avoiding us right? Or really, you."

"What was your first clue?" he scowled, earning an unimpressed look from the Asian girl. "Maybe we should give up, he's not going to talk to me. There's a better chance he'll talk to you if you ditch me and look for him yourself."

"The whole point of this was for –"

"Me to talk to Kurt," he finished for her tiredly, having heard this many times before ever since they teamed up, "yeah, we're making good headway there." That earned him a glare and he sighed. "I'm giving up for the day." He stretched his back and stared morosely at the map for a few more seconds before turning away. "Gonna get a bite, I'm hungry."

Behind him Tina huffed in defeat, the little beep signaling the map being put away. "Can we make a pit stop? I've been meaning to go shopping."

He watched her leave their room with a face. What was with girls and shopping?

Then again. Seeing as it was Tina, it was probably for a shiny new sword, and who could say no to that?

Still, he was hungry, so he reluctantly followed.

Osaka was a city that occupied some pretty brash simulations. It made him think of how he imagined people from the Bronx sounded like. That, and they were big on food, which was awesome for him because duh _food!_ He hadn't really been to this part of Edo when he'd been here previously. He was more preoccupied with taking care of Quinn and trying not to get attacked by hideously deformed monsters that were rightfully titled demons.

With his stomach growling as they left the inn into the busy streets of shops and restaurants, Finn contemplated what to get for dinner. He was craving something meaty and crispy, but part of him was also hankering for that udon soup he had the other day. The first time he went out to eat he expected Tina to know everything on the menu, which only got him a nasty look and a snappish reminder that she wasn't _Japanese_ she was fucking _Korean_. And then of course she ordered something for him that was super spicy and made him shut up about her ethnicity.

But they weren't going to eat now, they were going to shop. Finn cast forlorn glances at the restaurants they passed by, wondering if he'd be able to order something decent on his own if he ditched Tina. It wasn't like she knew much about the menu either. She knew sushi, but ancient Japanese dishes wasn't in her list of 'things I know'. And now he could really go for some udon. One with lots of pork.

They stopped in front of a jewelry stop and he couldn't help gaping at her. "Really!?"

"It's only for a minute," she brushed him off and entered the small establishment. Trudging behind her, he looked over the display cases of protective items that were way out of his price range. Most were pretty decent looking. Necklaces with simple stones that weren't gaudy or ugly. He could actually see himself wearing some of this stuff. Most were head pieces for women anyway, so there wasn't much to look at either.

Tina made a beeline for the shopkeeper, a very bored player who was sifting through his menu, and very much not Japanese.

Scratching his red hair, the young man spared at look at his customer, "'Sup."

Finn went back to his listless wandering of the shop as Tina engaged the ginger man in quiet conversation. He noticed some hair pieces for men and had no regrets in having a full head of hair. Being in Edo gave you the option in changing your hairstyle in order to really feel like you belong in the period, but Finn had seen some of the simulations. There was no way having half his head shaved could be flattering on him. That, and the rest of it grown out to be pulled up in a bun. He liked his hair just the way it was thank you very much.

Artie, on the other hand, had no problems with changing his hair for the era. He would have looked weird if he wasn't so into the role as daimyo. Santana called him an idiot in many different variations, but he didn't give too shits which was cool because _someone_ other than Brittany had to be at least a little carefree.

Thinking of Artie made Finn think of New Directions, and New Directions made him think of Quinn and Puck. Then he got mad and sad all over again, but not as bad as before which was a relief because it was exhausting to feel that gut wrenching pain all the time.

"Thank you!"

He looked up in surprise. Tina was in the middle of slipping an item card into her menu. That had gone faster than he thought.

"Let's go," she waved over at him, apparently finished with whatever shopping she'd been meaning to do.

"Wait, so it's not useful at all?" the redheaded shopkeeper asked curiously, "like at _all?_"

"Nope, it's useless," she shrugged, already leaving with Finn tagging along behind her, "thanks again!"

"What was that about?" Finn asked when they were back in the street again. Tina seemed particularly proud of herself right now.

"I've been collecting this crystal," she pulled up her menu and pulled up her list of items where there were several pieces of red crystal in different shapes and sizes. It wasn't uncommon for crystals to be littered throughout the stages. Jewelry makers would collect them and make their own protective items. Finn recalled Tina tinkering in the craft. "There's nothing special about them, they're just pretty rocks. I'm collecting them for a little project."

"They look like weird puzzle pieces," and they did. The bigger pieces had weird curves that seemed part of a bigger figure. "So what's the project?"

Tina was about to answer, but froze suddenly, staring at something in front of her with shock. Finn looked up and stopped short.

Kurt was standing right there in his way more tastefully put together samurai outfit. His plates weren't on, and the white robes were loosely tucked under black billowing pants. It reminded Finn sharply of all those martial arts movies that starred Jet Li. Blaine Anderson was behind him, triangular brows raised with interest. Finn had this strange and nasty desire to wring the younger man's neck.

"Kurt!" Tina was the first to react, running up to him and throwing his arms around him. He hugged back hesitantly, still thrown off by their presence. He made eye contact with Finn, but quickly darted away.

Finn hung back awkwardly, not sure at all what to say. Blaine sidled away from the pair and approached him cautiously.

"Um. Blaine Anderson," he held out his hand, and Finn took it stiffly.

"Finn," he greeted back, eyeing the short boy before he could stop himself. "Warblers. Right?"

Blaine blinked, bemused, and Finn bit his tongue. There shouldn't be any reason for him to know who he was. He dropped his hand and tried not to look so embarrassed. Maybe Tina was right about whole stalking thing. If Blaine found him creepy, he didn't show it because he smiled good-naturedly and looked back at their two friends.

"So, am I to assume you're the Finn Hudson Kurt's been babbling about?"

"What?" he nearly snapped his neck whipping back to Blaine.

The raven haired boy grinned. It was that same weird grin Tina gave him whenever she brought up his supposed and totally not true crush on Kurt. He'd grown used to tuning her out when this happened. After a week of getting to know her, he came to see that she was a huge romantic. She paired anyone she deemed good looking together. She could talk a mile a minute just as bad as Mercedes.

It was incredibly disturbing that now this guy was giving him that creepy look too.

"I don't like him that way," he blurted out just as Blaine was opening his mouth.

"Okay," he was baffled again, then shook his head and laughed. "That wasn't what I was going to say though."

"Oh," he flushed and turned away, kicking himself for his stupid mouth. "Sorry. What were you going to say?"

"I heard about your fallout with New Directions," he said, sympathy in his deep brown eyes. Finn felt his face darken, already predicting the streams of 'I'm sorry' and 'it'll get better with time'. He was surprised once more when instead Blaine said. "Kurt was wondering if there'd be a place for you in the Warblers."

It took him a few minutes to comprehend, and even then he was still lost. "I…he…what?"

Blaine laughed again. Finn looked at back at Kurt, but he was busy talking rapidly with Tina. Smiling, and…laughing, and…Finn expected him to still be upset over their fight, but none of that showed. He looked perfectly fine.

"While we welcome players into our guild I have a feeling you're more attached to New Directions, and joining another guild would only make you feel more miserable." Blaine said, regaining his attention. "So before you make your decision I'd advise you talk to your guild and see if you can fix whatever went wrong. Maybe there's still a chance to make amends."

Amends?

Quinn lied to him.

They all _lied_ to him.

Except Rachel, but she was shit at keeping secrets. Especially if telling them ruled in her favor.

At least Tina apologized, and she helped him find Kurt so they could talk and…Crap, now that he found him he didn't know what to say or where to start. He wasn't even sure he'd be able to get a word out before Kurt would nail him in the other eye. He was growing scared of the stupid stuff that would come out of his mouth every time he opened it. What if he said something offensive like always? He didn't want to get punched again…

"You could start with 'I'm sorry'," Blaine said helpfully, his smile just this side of too kind. Finn had no time to prepare himself because the next second, the Warbler dove into Tina and Kurt's conversation and whisked her away for some 'much needed shopping' even though he never met the girl before, and therefore wouldn't know her temper.

Nevertheless, they left Kurt and Finn alone to stand awkwardly in the streets of Edo Osaka looking anywhere but each other and feeling very self-conscious of their breathing.

So with nothing else but Blaine's advice goading him, Finn cleared his thought. "I'm sorry." He mumbled. Shuffling his feet like a little child. "About saying all that…stuff. I didn't mean them, and…it was stupid of me and I'll never do it again." Kurt didn't say anything, and Finn was seriously considering groveling at his feet because he really, _really_ hated when people were mad at him. It sucked epically that it was Kurt who was upset with him when he'd been cool with him this whole time and hadn't invaded his personal space like Rachel had, or made any assumptions that he had a chance with him, and taught him how to fight properly whenever he visited like the awesome older brother everyone thought he was.

Tina was so wrong in her theory that he had a crush on Kurt. He admired him, and feared for him. Wasn't that enough to keep an eye on him or feel absolutely craptastically awful after their blow up?

"I'm sorry," he repeated, the words tearing out of him like a smelly old band aid.

"Me too," Kurt finally spoke up, face perfectly still and hiding whatever emotion he was feeling at the moment. "About Drizzle." The corners of Finn's lips tugged at the mention of his supposed child's name. Everyone had teased him about it, but Kurt found it a cute nickname once the baby would be born. "Wanna spar?"

It had been a long time since he heard those words and it shocked him how much he missed them. Hoping Kurt wouldn't change his mind, Finn nodded eagerly and followed him out of the busy streets, their companionship not quite fully restored, but inching back to how things used to be.

Baby steps.


End file.
